1.

What do you understand by globalism? Do you think its threatened by latest

developments taking place around the world? Examine .
Globalism is a phenomenon which basically talks about integration of nation states around the globe. Initially,
experts were of view that it is basically economies that are getting integrated via measures like liberalisation,
opening up of market etc. But, of late, it has been agreed that it is a multi-dimensional concept which affects
polity and society also. Globalism is nothing but an idea for development by utilising the resources spread
across the globe both material and human regardless of the political boundaries. It calls for a Global Village
where an ideal end would be to get every product and service at every place in the world. It connects economy
and people as well making transition to a global citizenship.
In the current global context, the core idea of Globalisation is getting challenged due to certain developments
.Some of them are:
1) The sudden emergence of Regional trade blocks like TPP, TPIP and different bilateral FTAs between countries
is likely to hinder the progress on globalisation as signatories of such would yield enormous influence on global
trading.
2)The competitive fiscal and monetary policies like Devaluation of currency, Fed tapering, Stimulus package etc.
are also likely to affect cooperation between countries and would also result in shifting of growth from one region
to other instead of an equitable growth.
3) Geo-political animosity between different power blocks like US-Russia, Arab-Iran, South China Sea dispute etc
resulting from political considerations will also hinder cooperation on common interests. Sectarian interest would
thus elbow out any progress on Globalisation. Ability to counter terrorism, migrant crisis etc. are a result of such
conflicts.
4) Recently we have seen a surge in sense of Nationalism where politicians are exploiting the situation by
playing to domestic gallery and thereby hindering cooperation. Domestic narratives and politics have started
affecting global cooperation.
5)We also see that there has been fears in the mind of people where they see such phenomena challenging their
core ideas, beliefs, art , culture. Thus, to prevent any such hijacking, tools like censorship of social media, control
on print media etc. are employed.
1) Political: Most of the nations are today increasingly looking inward and are turning parochial and protectionist.
This is not surprising as now democracy has been the order of governance and people are to be assured of a
comfortable life failing which the political machinery which the political leaders endear will collapse. US
Presidential candidate Trumps campaign illustrates this.
2) Social: The global economy is not robust now; resource race has become more strife as a result. A sense of
nativism has emerged prominently among the people where globalisation has penetrated much deeper to begin
with. This nativism has taken to racism as a rallying point in few nations as well as is evident in the Brexit that
unfolded of late.
3) Economic: The nationalism spirit has become more pronounced and today most of the nations that have
already emerged strong taking up benefits accrued due to globalism. To be precise, they are today treading on
path to self-sufficiency and turning to domestic consumption. An outstanding example of this case can be said of
China and Trumps call for Americanism to Globalism to become the credo of the US. Increasing numbers of
Regional FTAs and Bilateral FTAs of late are indicative of this direction to change.

2) Chinas contribution to global recovery since the crisis of 2007-08 has been
significant. Its faltering, or falling prey to adventurist action in the South China
Sea, will not be good for itself, the region, or the world, including India.
Elaborate
China's current share in world trade is around 11%.Thus, any market elsewhere in the world is directly or
indirectly linked to it and is also likely to face consequences of its actions(both positive and negative).This shows
China's importance in the international order. China has made available cheap but good quality manufactured
goods, produced great amounts of steel and also many food crops special mention about organic pulses and tea.

In this way China has been supplying blood to the industries in form of her raw materials whose price was much
stabilised as a result. The skilled population of China and technology have further served as shock absorbent to
the globe in that out of limited resources maximum was made
Thus, it is of utmost importance that the actions resulting out of the recent arbitration related to disputed South
China sea and its subsequent unilateral rejection by China be studied properly.
> Adventurist action in South China Sea:
China has been building artificial islands in the legally claimed SCS with reference to historical reasons by the
virtue of nine-dash line. Of late this has been negated by the PCA. But China had remarked it to null and void
and has intensified her military presence in the latest development of which she and Russia are conducting joint
naval exercises despite international and neighbouring nations unease.
Not only is that, actions taken by non-regional players also likely to have impact not only in the region but for
parties outside it. For example-The recent lifting of arm sale embargo by US to Vietnam , the decision to hold joint
patrol by US with Phillipines are all seen as a reaction of it.
Lets understand it under the following heads:
For World :
1)This non adherence to ruling of rule based international regime might set a bad precedence. Other signatories
might also start challenging the legitimacy of different institution.
2)Likely to hinder cooperation on different global issues like migrant crisis,Terrorism,Growth etc. on different
global platforms like G20, UN etc.
Effect on the region:
1) ASEAN-China cooperation and trade to be see a setback as many of the disputed islands are claimed by
different members of ASEAN.
2) Militarisation of region would divert a large resource which could have been otherwise used for betterment of
lives of people in the region
On India:
1. India has been championing the cause of free movement in international waters. Such action is likely to affect
trade as it is home to $5 Trillion in borne trade.
2. Strategically important region both politically and economically((rich gas and fuel reserve).Likely to impact
exploration of ONGC videsh. Thus, economic loss.
3. Energy agreements in Turmoil: India-Vietnam joint exploration would be on stake to due war like situation
4. Increase Defence Budget: to safe guard its right in region India need to tackle aggressive policy of China
5. Effect on act East Policy: India involvement with east Asia would get a severe blow
6. Effect on economy: India-China trade would be effected in case of contention in region which be create
significant impact on economy due to unavailability of cheap import and export market in east Asia including
China.

3. Write a note on the United Nations Organisation Conference against Racism,

Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and its relevance to todays India.
The United Nations Organisation Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Xenophobia was
organized in 2001 in search of a global solution to the problem of untouchability and caste discrimination. It was
then opposed by upper caste intellectuals as unethical and anti-National. It was asserted that it was a national
problem with constitutional solutions within India.
However even after more than a decade it remains relevant in todays India when there is:
An increased violence against Dalit and Muslims by right wing activists
Discrimination and xenophobia against African immigrants and acts of violence against them in some of the
most developed regions of the country.
Humiliation and alienation of North Eastern citizens.
Nationalism has wrongly taken form as acting against the minorities and imposing majoritarian culture, identity
and beliefs as the idea of being Indian. The issue needs special and urgent political and social attention as it is
taking an increasingly violent form. The incidents of killing and lynching are rising alarmingly.

India has been a successful institutional democracy; it must also be democratic in spirit by adhering to the
constitutional ideals of secularism, equality and unity.
* Obstacle to Indias progress: disruption in social sphere due to historical backwardness has widened regional
developments and disparities among demographics in terms of skill, purchasing power etc.
* harm to tourist potential: India with its initiatives like Swadesh darshan and Prasad with thematic tourist
destinations will be unable to exploit its features, due to past incidences regarding exploitation against
foreigners.
*negates urban mission: aim to make rural areas as engines of economic growth have become a dream with
rampant practices like untouchability, manual scavenging, social divisions, patriarchal based decision making.
Way forward: thrusting upon scientific education dissemination while developing local leaders as change
agents, behavioural change communication towards tolerance building, involvement of female in decision making
at gram Sabha's, technology based subsidies via DBT for farm inputs should be used to make India a swasth and
saakshar bharat.

4. Examine why prices of pulses in India has gone high in recent years.
What measures has the government taken to curb the surging prices of
pulses? Comment on these measures.
India is the largest producer and consumer of the pulses. In recent years rise in prices of pulses is due to
following reasons:
1.

Low YIELDS DUE TO CEREAL CENTRIC FOOD POLICY ; Indias cereal centric food security policies
emphasize rice and wheat while dis-incentivising the production of pulses through higher MSP for rice and
wheat presenting a demand supply mismatch.
2.
LOW YIELD DUE TO LOW IRRIGATED AND DROUGHT PRONE AREAS FOR PULSES: Dependence of pulse
production on rainfall and droughts has made it risky proposition for the farmers who further attract top
cereals.
3.
IMPORT DEPENDENCY AND LOW GLOBAL SURPLUS.
4.
CHANGING DIETRY NEEDS ; because of high purchasing power, the deity needs shifted towards fruits and
vegetables.
5.
Hoarding and black marketing
6.
STEPS TAKEN BY GOVT TO CURB THE SURGING PRICES OF PRICES ;
Ban export of these commodities and open up imports at zero duties this prevents farmers from getting a
better price for their produce in foreign markets which then dis-incentivises them from producing more.
7.
CREATING BUFFER STOCK ; This being done mainly through imports is a step in the right direction as it
will support price stabilisation.
8.
ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES ; ECA is invoked to impose stocking limits forcing private trades to liquidate
stocks immediately and taken action against hoarders and black marketers.
9.
MSP for arhar moong and urad dal to incentivise production :
10.
Delisting pulses from agricultural produce market committee APMC and abolishing local taxes on them.
Against this background the need of the hour is a overhaul of governments policy of Vis a viz pulses
production. Institutional and infrastructural support of the govt and technology improvement will help in crop
diversification and to bring down the increasing prices of pulses.

5) Discuss how the petroleum sector in India has been

reformed since 1991 reforms.
Petroleum sector had always been a machinery for political manipulations and populist moves.Where there is
disaffection of public involved,reforms move into the picture gradually.Before 1991 petroleum sector was a
monopoly of public sector companies.All private sector companies had been nationalized and the state paid a
huge subsidy bill to regulate the prices of petroleum products. Post 1991,several changes have come in this
sector guided mainly by suggestion of Vijay Kelkar committee set up in 1991.These changes are as follows1)Aviation Kerosene,Naptha and Bitumen were first products whose prices were deregulated as these did not
feature in direct public domain.
2)Disinvestment in ONGC and its conversion to a public limited company.

3)Entry of private players in both extraction and refining of petroleum products.Today,Essar and Reliance have
even opened up retail outlets.
4)Eventual deregulation of diesel and petrol prices leaving them open to market fluctuations thereby reducing
subsidy pressure on government.
5) Deregulation of LPG prices and reduction of subsidy. Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG subsidy has helped in
curbing the black marketing of subsidized cylinders. Introduction of GiveItUp campaign to promote well off people
to give up on LPG subsidy.Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana introduced to provide free gas connections to women
from BPL households
6)Widespread corruption in diversion of subsidized kerosene has been stemmed by using various measures.
Some of the suggested reforms as disinvestment in HPCL and IBP were not successfully implemented. The
former's got stalled and the latter got merged into IOCL. Still, some issues remain unresolved.However,petroleum
products being one of largest of India's exports shows a bright future for this sector in India.ONGC and IOCL figure
among the top oil companies in the world. Its time to further streamline this sector to bring it to what was
envisaged in the 1991 reforms.

1)

Examine how Microsofts City Next platform can help Indias smart
city project.

Microsoft city next is partner led initiative that empowers cities to be more sustainable prosperous and
economically competitive with simplified approach.
Smart cities are those that use information and communication technology assisted systems to empower citizens.
Microsofts city next platform can help Indias smart city project in following ways;
1.
2.
3.

4.

5.

2)

DIGITAL CITIES: Cities can transform their digital citizen services by using breakthrough ideas to better
connect government business and people with innovative services that reduce cost and increase impact.
EDUCATED CITIES ; Microsoft city next solutions transform education to create more innovate school and
teaching practices that lead to prosperous competitive cities.
HEALTHIER CITIES : This project helps cities become healthier places to work and live with Microsoft
cloud, big data, mobile and social technologies, civic leaders can provide citizen centric services that improve
access to healthcare from virtually any location at any time.
SAFER CITIES ; Microsoft city next public safety solutions makes cities safer by taking cloud, big data,
mobile and social technologies in solutions for intelligence and analysis, surveillance and neighbourhood and
emergency management.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES; This initiative and our partners can help cities improve sustainability with solutions
that spans energy and water, building energy management, transportation, resource efficiency and
ecosystem services.
Thus Microsoft city next is the bridge that is making city transformation possible; plays a
meaningful role in deploying real time solution, accelerating economic development and environmental
sustainability.

Critically analyse various recommendations made by different

committees against AFSPA and reasons why the central government is
reluctant to repeal AFSPA
AFSPA,conceived as a tool to suppress nationalist movement during the Quit India movement(1942),has been
under the scanner for over a long period of time due to some of its draconian provisions which conflict basic
human
rights.
It has been criticised heavily for the blanket cover it provides to armed forces against prosecution despite
evidence of human rights violation.
Different committees have been setup by the govt, and the judiciary to look into the matters relating to
Extra-judicial killing, Forced disappearances, sexual exploitation, fake encounter etc. using the garb of AFSPA.
Some of them are B.P. Jeevan Reddy committee(2005),Veerappa Moily led ARC,SC appointed judicial
commission(2013) headed by Justice Hegde.All of them have come to the conclusion that AFSPA in its current
form
has
to
go
due
to
following
reasons
:
1)Act
is
seen
as
High
handedness
of
Security
officials.
2)
Excessive
use
of
force
and
using
it
despite
having
other
options
to
explore.
3) Failing to protect ordinary citizen against its misuse while protecting armed men against prosecution.
And the recommendations made by them:

1) Amending the AFSPA act to delist offences like sexual offence etc from it and trying them out under other
state and national criminal laws.
2) Slowly phasing out AFSPA based on threat perception from such areas and strengthening local police and
security officers.
3) Proactive role by local govt. towards real development, especially in social sectors.
4) In areas where AFSPA exists, having a robust judicial mechanism within Army to weed out elements from
within who indulge in such violation for promotion and awards. (Machil fake encounter case)
But the govt. has been reluctant to act on such recommendations due to following:
1)Fear of secessionist movement(Like Naga, mizo etc) getting emboldened by such measures.
2)Sensitive and precarious security situation due to proximity to international boundaries.
3)Fear that autonomy of Army might be compromised during counter-insurgency operations.
Way forward :
1)Implement recommendation in a phased manner
2)Enforce other peace accords with militant groups like Naga peace accord on ground
3)Reach out to local population and engage them in counter insurgency measures .

3) It is argued that the concept of poverty in India today is

fundamentally different from that of poverty three decades ago, and
that safety nets need to be tailored to meet the needs of a society in
transition. What do you understand by this argument? Discuss.
Poverty is dynamic in nature.
How poverty in India today is different from poverty three decades ago?
~ Proportion of BPL families has decreased.
~ It was easier to identify BPL families: rural areas, STs & SCs; However, today urban poverty is rampant.
~ Multi-dimensional nature of poverty is recognized. Back then, usually income and landlessness were the
basis; Nowadays, health, education etc. determines poverty.
~ Nature of assistance required has also changed. Work and insurance is desired.
Taking these changes into account, restructuring of social security net is needed. Focus should be on
accidents of life rather than solely on the accidents of birth.
Three key challenges need to be met:
i. Identifying those in need of assistance in the rapid changing economy. Should consider disease, disability,
unemployment. Proper identification and benchmark would prevent dilution of schemes.
ii. Preventing unintended consequences of schemes; for e.g.: PDS has prevented diversification of nutrition.
iii. Ensuring that assistance is meaningful: greater level of benefits and easier access.
It has been found that there is a plethora of schemes. It results in inefficiency and leakage. Limited number of
schemes and a pragmatic approach should be the way forward .

3)

The amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)

Act, 1986, passed by Parliament recently, demonstrate a lack of national
commitment to abolishing all forms of child labour. Critically comment.
The recent amendments to the Child Labour laws in India has reflected a lack of political will from the
government to abolish the evil of child labour from Indian society. As per International Labour Organization,
child labour is prohibited below the age of compulsory education in a country which stands at 14 in India. The
recent changes seem to be in direct violation of this directive. The amendments are1) Prohibiting adolescent labour (ages 14-18) in all hazardous industries. This was a welcome
move.However,it was accompanied by simultaneous cut down in the list of hazardous industries from 83 to
just 3.
2) Allowing children below 14 to work in a "family enterprise" in vacation or after school. This is the most
retrogressive amendment brought in the law
The ill-effects of these amendments are1) Dragging of children into family trade, which at times includes most hazardous labours as carpet weaving,
bangle making,etc.
2) Loss of education for children. At times they get enrolled in school and are not allowed to attend by their
parents so that they can help them with the work.
3) Loss of employment for an equally skilled adult who might have been employed in an industry in place of
an adolescent.
4) Large scale misuse of these laws by big corporate giants to get their work done from these "family
enterprises" without having to worry about fair wages or work hours

This move has clearly been an attempt by the government to attract investment from large corporate houses
in manufacturing sector in India. However, this stands to reverse whatever progress we had achieved in
eradicating child labour in India. If no steps are taken to correct this action, India will pay heavily for the loss
of talent as there might have been a child who could have become a doctor but was forced to work on a
pottery wheel.

4)

Recently it was reported that members of the successful Apollo space

programme are experiencing higher rates of cardiovascular problems.
Why? Do you think deep space missions are futile exercises? Comment
Space has always been a wonder to mankind arousing great interest in us to delve into these vast
surroundings and discover what it holds as a stock of surprises. Deep space manned missions had been
planned with the same motive of exploring deep space. Manned mission was send to moon which created a
history.
However, years after a number of successful Apollo missions between 1968 and 1972 it has been discovered
that astronauts who went on these missions suffered from major cardiovascular problems. This has been
attributed to the cosmic radiations that these astronauts are subjected to in deep space missions.
This compels us to reconsider our quest for manned deep space explorations due to following reasons1) These missions involve a large amount of capital and resources.
2) Astronauts selected for these missions have to undergo special training to live in deep space.
3) Astronauts experience lengthening of bones and inability to walk for several months when they return on
earth as a side effect of zero gravity.
4) Cardiovascular problems are caused as has been the recent observation.
5) Accidents can be caused in these missions leading to loss of lives and resources.e.g.Challenger and
Columbia space shuttle disasters.
Although there are a number of problems involved still stopping these missions altogether is not a viable
solution. The reasons for the same are1) These missions are the means to understand the mysteries of space and promoting further research.
2) Manned mars missions have been planned by SpaceX.These are essential for study of viability of human
habitations at mars.
The problems being encountered can be eliminated by developing better space shuttles and protective gears
for astronauts so that the harmful effects can be offset. Effective R&D can also help in minimising costs
involved in these missions. Space exploration is still in incubation stage and discontinuing it would be a loss
to years of hard work from thousands of scientists and astronauts.

5)

Why is it said that the battle to prevent online piracy in India is tough
one? In your opinion what steps should be taken to stop online piracy
and why? Comment.
A huge amount of traffic to online piracy portal Kickass torrents emanating from India suggest that the
menace of piracy in India is deep rooted and widespread. Several attempts to control this piracy have not
met wide success due to following reasons1) Slow and inefficient court proceedings.
2) Lack of a piracy specific law regarding enforcement of copyrights identical to Digital Millennium Copyrights
Act of USA.
3) Lack of filmmaker's will to push for legal action against end users, i.e., customers due to the fear of
alienating them.
4) Presence of a large number of online VPN tools and anonymous browsing aids.
5) Over blocking of sites resulting in blocking of innocent sites.
6) High pricing of DVDs and movie tickets forcing low earning population to go for alternative means like
pirated DVDs.
Steps that can be taken to prevent online piracy are highlighted as follows1) Establishing proper legislations regarding online piracy taking local consideration into mind.
2) Constituting a specially trained task force of ethical hackers to tackle with online cyber pirates.
3) Involving cyber giants as Google in implementing framework for tackling piracy.
4) Lowering of entertainment taxes by state governments to promote grass root population to go for ethical
means for watching movies.
5) Establishing separate tribunal for dealing with online piracy cases.
The menace of piracy leads to huge losses to filmmakers each year. Although it is largely accepted that this
problem cannot be completely eliminated. However steps can be taken to minimise it or enable filmmakers to
reap some of the benefits from these portals to make up for their losses. Piracy is a serious cybercrime and
must be dealt with without any laxity.

6)

Recently the Lok Sabha passed a bill to amend the existing

Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement
of Security Interest (Sarfaesi) Act, and the debt recovery tribunal (DRT)
Act. Examine the significance of these amendments.
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency code has been passed of late. These amendments are indeed aimed at making the eco-system
enabling for the successful operation of the code. It bears significance for the reason that it provides mechanism to deal with
enforcement of interests and resolve disputes regarding debt recovery in a quicker pace dismantling many procedural hurdles
in place as of now. As the amendment bill amends four laws pertaining to SARFAESI, DRT, Stamps Act and Depositories Act,
significance assessment can be done along these heads:
1) Now the hire purchases and financial lease are to be brought under the ambit of SARFEASI act. This will enable secured
creditors to take over a company and restore its business on acquisition of controlling interest in the borrower company.
2) The DRT has been made more responsive and easy to approach by making it mandatory that District Magistrate to clear an
application by the creditor to take over possession of the collateral within 60 days and enabling electronic filing of recovery
applications, documents and written statements.
3) The debtor now will have to deposit 50% of the amount of debt due before filing an appeal at a DRT.
4) Indian Stamp Act amendment to exempt deeds of assignment signed at the time of an ARC buying a loan from a bank from
the levy of stamp duty will encourage ARCs to come forward to help. The RBIs power to audit and inspect ARCs has been
enhanced so as to act as a check on them as well.

7)

Atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)

are a regular feature of the caste-based Indian society and distressingly,
of late, they have begun increasing. In your opinion, lack of which
values and attitude is apparent on part of both the government and
citizens in preventing crimes against SCs and STs? Suggest out of the
box solutions to prevent such crimes.
Caste based violence is on the rise leading to loots, violence ,murder , rapes against SC and ST leading to civil rights violations
and curbing individual freedom and equality.
Lack of compassion, gratitude, respect , Generosity which is the quality of being kind and understanding, the willingness to
give others their value and feeling of superiority and in group vs out group differentiation are the reasons that lead to increase
crimes against SC and ST.
In fact lack of open-mindedness of government officials and lack of reverence which results in atrocities against social caste
without judiciary directives.
Solutions
Promote ST, SC entrepreneurship via Stand UP India. And self Help Groups
Community policing along with sensitization programs.
Use of social media and popularising the various social reforms and teachings of various Bhakti cult movement
On ground human rights activists to ensure rights of SC and ST along with social literacy making deprived class aware about
their rights and privileges
promote inter caste marriages and inter gotra marriages
change in socialization helping children to develop respect for all
one simplest way would be avoid of usage of surnames that unconsciously activates preconceived notions.
However the financial, social, economic , and political inclusion the best solution for long term.
1] lack of tolerance towards thoughts
2] lack of mutual respect towards occupation
3] lack of oneness among sections of society
4] lack of social equality ideology
Few measures which can be applied to curb such menace are following:1] inter caste and inter gotra marriage
2] organization of village fairs as such fairs were organized in ancient India and were responsible for social
harmony
3] collective celebration of festivals of each community
4] collective prayers can be a good measure as shown by Gandhi Ji experiment Sarv Dharam Sambhav
5] constructional program by upper classes among lower classes
6] promotion of social schemes for SC and ST to secure social justice as envisaged by constitution
Lack of values and attitude on part of citizens"
# Caste system is manifesting in variety of ways in maintaining inequality
# People belonging to lower castes are still made to do menial jobs
# People not adhering to values of upper castes are discriminated
# People of upper castes acting as conscious keepers of the society and taking law in to their hands. e.g:
Incident in Una, Gujarat

On part of state:
# Inefficacy of the legal framework in dealing with atrocities, for swift action and speedy justice delivery
# Domination of higher castes in running the affairs of the state
# Failure to provide quality and accessible education and sensitization of upper castes
Solutions to prevent such crimes:
# Using media to create awareness among lower castes about the legal framework like PoA Act, PCR Act,
e.g: ads of IRDA which were very effective
# Provision of clear time lines for investigation and trail in the cases of atrocities and usage of technology
in devising trackers for public monitoring
# Engaging civil society groups which are excelling in their fight for rights of dalits and scheduled tribes
The contradictions in our society will slow down the progress of the nation, these needs to be addressed
for realizing the true potential of the nation.

1) Examine the importance of storm water drainage to a city. Do you

think Indian cities have adequate storm water drainage facilities?
Examine
From past 4-5 years India is consistently battering with erratic monsoon which sometime leads to flood like situation in
some areas like Assam,Bihar etc. causing large property and human loss especially in urban areas.This situation is
alarming and need some immediate measures.One such is Stormwater drainage, is the process of draining excess water
from streets, sidewalks, roofs, buildings, and other areas. The systems used to drain stormwater are often referred to as
storm drains which is if implemented properly could mitigate significant damage..
In this parlance, Importance of stormwater drainage system can be seen as followsa)it would drain the accumulated water in the city and avert the flood like situations.
b)it would secure the livelihood of poor and slumdwellers in city who lost their houses and family due to heavy rainfall
leading to almost flood like situation.
c)it is relevant from health aspect also as it would significantly reduce the chances of diseases like
malaria,dengue,hepatitis etc.
d)it would reduce the huge expenditure of government in tackling such vagaries of monsoon in the form of evacuation
,rehabilitation and rejuvenation of affected area.
Indian cities have failed significantly on this front resulting into huge chaos in cities every year during monsoon time,
some states like Odisha,Chattisgarh and Kerala have failed drastically in creating storm water drainage in cities. Some of
the possible reasons for this failure in India are as followsa) Excessive development and urbanisation have swallowed up soft landscape which acts as absorbent of water.
b) Storm water drainages are clogged with garbage and are not regularly renovated by local bodies.
c) Apathetic attitude of local bodies and district administration on their construction.
way forwarda) urban local bodies should check the development and maintenance of stormwater drains.
b) regular surveys should be conducted to check their development and efficacy.
c) corruption in government departments in such projects should be curbed.
d) over urbanisation and excessive industrialisation should be paid heed.

2) Recently, Parliament passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition)

Amendment Bill, 2015. Discuss the objectives and provisions of the Bill. Do
you think this Bill would benefit weaker sections of the society?

The Parliament recently passed the Benami Transaction(Prohibition) Bill,2015.This piece of legislation is part of the
govt.'s comprehensive approach to tackle the menace of Black money.This bill talks about tackling Black money in the
real estate sector.The different provisions of the bill are legislated to counter the use of unaccounted money to acquire
property under a fictitious name(Benami).
The different provisions can be summed up as :
1) Provisions relating to Confiscation and attaching of such benami properties
2)Fine along with prosecution for holding such unlawful properties.
This is a welcome move as it is likely to have the following impact :
1)Would curb the practice of tax evasion by accounting for such sources.
2)Counterfeit currency would find it difficult to enter market via such step.
3)Will help in reducing the cash-to-GDP intensity in transactions which is very high in India's case.
The Bill , despite so many positives, isn't free from flaws.For example : It only talks about Black money in real estate in
India.Thus the chances are that the same can be routed to other sector or entities to legitimise it. Like NRIs can be used
to buy properties. Thus, we need to strengthen our monitoring and prosecuting agency as well.
Coming to the second part, we see that tax evasion via such measures isn't just a simple case of denying a state its fair
share of revenue. It is , infact, criminal in nature.Such steps put financial stress on state which forces them to spend less
on social sectors where poor and marginalised are the biggest beneficiaries.
Hence, we see that poor people are indirectly affected by it as such cases hinders the trickle down effect.
Way forward :
1)Amnesty windows are good move. Can be extended for a while.
2)FEMA, PMLA should be amended and can given more teeth.

3) Discuss how GST differs from the current regimes, how it will work, and what
will happen if Parliament clears the Bill.
GST is touted as the biggest indirect tax reform since independence.It is an attempt to have a uniform
taxation system across the geography of India.It fundamentally changes the way Goods and services are
taxed in India.
Comparison with current regime :
1)Currently -->States taxes goods only and Centre handles taxation of services and manufacturing with the
exception of wholesale and retail market.After GST , goods will be taxed by Centre and services by state.
2)GST will subsume State and central taxes like Excise duty,custom duty among others.
3)Currently at every stage of production we have to pay taxes .Resulting in cascading effect.GST will do away
with this and only the final consumer will be taxed.
To understand what changes GST can possibly bring , we can do a stakeholder study :
On state :
1)Will be beneficial for consumer state as services will be charged by state. Producer state might loose initially
but provisions for No loss of 5 year will help them to adapt.
2)Will hinder the autonomy of political parties who on different occasions bought populist measures to suit
their political ideology

3)Smaller states are likely to suffer as Bigger and larger states in GST council would outweigh their demands.
On Union
1)Ease of doing business likely to be improved inviting investment in form of FDI.
2)Reduction in number of department resulting in more coordination and less expenditure.
3)Will do away with economic distortion in trade , services and consumption across region
4)Eliminate discretion on part of ministry,bureaucracy and hence less policy paralysis
5)More tax compliance and wider base of taxation.
6)Less litigation(due to complexities in technicalities) would save judiciary time.
On Citizens:
1)Will no longer have to pay tax on taxes.
2)Poor more likely to be affected as widening tax base would engulf them.
3)Since it doesn't depend on income hence marginalised section to be affected the most.
Concern :
1)Fear that it would lead to Union centralization and would affect cooperative federalism.
2)Many exemptions(like alcohol) given under it. Would work best when exemptions are minimum.
3)No mention of steps to deal with unorganised sector.
Conclusion: Opinions are many and house seems divided.But , with time, and judicial intervention and course
correction by Parliament the positives will outweigh the negatives.

4) Financing technical vocational education and training (VET) is costlier

than general education due to its technical nature. What are the
challenges of imparting VET in India? Analyse the sources from where
finances can be mobilized to finance VET.
Vocational education training (VET) require expansion with quality education and training. VET will improve the
employability of Indian youth and bridge the gap between the industry demand and supply of skilled personnel.
In India, we have primarily four type of institutions to provide VET viz; secondary and higher secondary schools
and polytechnics; Industrial Technical Institutes (ITIs); vocational training private institutes but publicly funded
by National Skill Development Centre (NSDC) and In-firm training and apprentices by large organisations.
We are on the verge of industrial boom in the upcoming years and even for agriculture sectors, if we have
highly skilled youth in all the sectors then India can become the superpower in no time. For this, we need to
match the requirements that are currently vacant in the industry as well as keep us ready for future.
In order to have comprehensive VETs imparted to the youth, we need to finance the VETs in a comprehensive
way. Till now, the VETs are financed by general tax revenues and in-firm resources (in case of in-firm trainings).
But these are not sustainable in long term. We need look beyond tax revenues as the same is already very low
when we see the GDP to Tax ratio which has not improved since 1991. Further, if the in-firm financing is done,
we also provide tax exemptions (up to 150%) which further hurt the ratio.
We should have a special levy in for VET and also push some percentage of CSR to mandatorily go towards
VETs. to incentivize the firms those who provide in-firm trainings, we can reimburse the training cost to them
from the specially created fund by the special levy. By this way, we could expand the VETs to the level desired
along with quality education.

5) Critically examine the challenges and dilemmas facing India in

conserving tiger population in its forests.

India is currently home to 70% of World's wild tiger population. There has been a significant jump thanks to
some policy measures .Despite that , there are many challenges and dilemma that keep cropping up while
taking Tiger protection and conservation steps.
CHALLENGES :
1)Growing human population has seen buffer areas of National parks and reserves getting encroached upon and
thereby affecting the natural habitat of Tiger.
2)Provisions of FRA allowing resource extraction(non timber) has affected their habitat.
3)Increased instances of Poaching felicitated by nexus between forest officers and smuggler and supply in
international market .
4)Carrying capacity of reserves getting saturated and thereby occurence of Man-animal conflict resulting in loss
of lives.
5)Change in migration pattern of Tigers due low prey base.
DILEMMAS:
1)The foremost dilemma that the govt. has regarding Tiger conservation is to strike a balance between
Economic development for the betterment of country and Wildlife protection. Instances are there where two
have come in conflict. example- Ken-Betwa river interlinking is likely to submerge a large part of Panna Tiger
reserve.
2)Steps that needs to be taken to strike a balance between Right to life of both tiger and human as
constitutionally mandated.
Way forward:
1)Explore PPP model for conservation and protection by involving scientists, experts, NGOs(PETA).
2)Prefer Bio-fencing over Electric fencing which at times has proved to be fatal.
3)Translocate to other National park and Tiger reserves .Declare more Tiger reserves under NTCA.
4)Rope in popular faces to raise awareness about conservation measures , if possible.
5)Extend forest area only after proper consultation with Gram Sabah under FRA.
6)Improve scientific conservation methods. Drone can be used.
7)Relocate forest dwellers from buffer areas if possible without affecting livelihood.
8)Strengthen WCCB by giving more autonomy. Many convicted still few prosecuted for wildlife crimes.

7) Do you think a woman should have the right to seek abortion at any
time she pleases? Should the state have a say in an intimate matter of
what a woman wants to do with the foetus? What are the ethical issues
involved? Critically analyse.
Abortion is simply killing the foetus in the womb of the would be mother for any reason whatsoever. The
question here arises that should woman carrying the foetus have a liberty to decide when to end the living
being inside her or to go ahead and give the foetus a life by giving birth.
We should first examine the facts in which a woman would want abortion at first place. These can be the
following:
1)
2)
3)
4)

The foetus suffers from a disability (mental or physical) that is not desirable.
The foetus is the outcome of some crime as rape
The woman thinks that she cannot bear the responsibility and feels as a slave when pregnant.
Societal issues such as gender acceptability.

Now, let us look into the Act and judgements that prevail in our system to handle abortion. The MTP Act 1971,
states two conditions in which a foetus can be aborted:

1) within 12 weeks if the woman carrying the foetus so desires.

2) within 20 weeks with the permission of medical council, consisting of not less than 2 members.
In both the cases, freedom of the choice of woman is limited to:
1) continuance of pregnancy would risk the life of the mother
2) there is a substantial risk to the foetus that it would suffer from physical and mental disability that would
make him/her seriously handicapped.
However, in a recent judgement by the supreme court, the court allowed to abort the foetus of 24 weeks to a
woman who was seeking the same as she was allegedly raped by a man on false promise of marriage.
Analysing above things, it is clear that our system is quite sufficient to take care of the woman at potential risk
because of pregnancy. However, things get merkier when one asks what about the foetus' right to live a life.
The situation becomes more worried when judgement sighted above gives birth to a discussion that abortion
rules must be more liberal. Rather running hastily for more liberal abortion rules, we should strike a balance
between the mother's choice to abort and the foetus choice to live.
An example for the same is the law applicable in Germany. There the woman who wants to abort is given a
madatory couselling for three days and then a rest for two days, after that the decision is left to her to abort or
not. Along with this, she is assured of quality education for her child and employment as well. They also assure
of acceptability of her child in the society. In this case, thus by conselling foetus' rights are also taken care of.
The above law can be taken as example and India should also built a comprehensive case and Act for abortion,
keeping in view everything woman, child, child's right to essential aspects of livelihood, societal obligations etc.

1) Discuss the role of hydrology in managing urban flood and

drainages
Hydrology is the science of management of water and water resources for the benefit of mankind.The recent frequency of
occurrence of urban floods has once again brought the attention to the immediate need for having a proper urban hydrological
system in place to deter occurrences in future.
Hydrology can act as panacea ,along with other measures , due to the following advantages :
1)Water is a mobile liquid and this property can be exploited well for draining out water from cities by construction of
differential slopes along roads,sideways,walkways etc
2)Using the tools of hydrology like lifts,pumps,canal,embankment etc proper water conservation measures can be taken foe
stormwater harvesting, watershed management.
3)The scientific study also tells us about the exact dimensions and geometrical shape for such artificial creations.
4)It is only due to the availability of such sciences that designs of efficient Sewage treatment plants (STPs) has been made
possible.
5)It also helps in conducting periodic scientific study of water resources and measure the the quality in terms of BoD,pollution
etc and suggest appropriate measures .
Thus, we see that there is a lot of scope that urban hydrology provides for containing such events.This steps only needs to be
encouraged by city administrator along with complementary measures like proper urban planning,regular drain desalination,
waterbody conservation,strict vigilance by NGT,civic capacity building, raising awareness among others.

2)

What are potential implementation problems that GST could face? Discuss.

The Parliament recently passed the 122nd Constitutional amendment bill in form of GST.But this ambitious indirect tax
reform has only cleared a legislative hurdle as of now.This bill is likely to encounter many implementation problems in near
future. Some of them are :
1)Any new change is seen with suspicion.There is always a general unwillingness to change.Thus this would act as an
hurdle.
2)A strong network of professional has to be trained in technical and HR areas by both Centre and State.This capacity
building would put financial stress on many states.
3)Large scale restructuring of departments,institutions,ministries has to be done to absorb GST provisions. Any delay
would result in delay in overall implementation .
4)A lot of investment needs to be done in developing IT solutions for GST network building. Will probably need a separate
budgetary allocation.
5)Pressure would be there to make compliance easy as any complexity might cause evasion. Necessary structures have to be
built/reformed.
6)Still no clarity on the Tax rate despite many meetings between finance minister's of different state's.GST council needs to
arrive at it quickly.
7)Concerns about financial autonomy of states still raised.Parity between large and small states in council will affect state's
autonomy to plan according to their own needs.One size fit all approach might be detrimental.
8)New form of litigation might evolve as many provisions are open ended and vague.Thus, might put a stress on judicial
system .
Thus, in my view, it is still a minimalist framework which would take another year or so to get fully implemented.

3) Discuss the impact of 25 years of liberalization on disabled people in India .

Survey of success and failure of economic reforms is incomplete if one neglect 26.8 million disabled people
living in India. The rights of disabled was finally codified since 1991 as the group was socially excluded in postindependence era.
To assure social-inclusion in country, Person with Disabilities Act ,1995 was implemented for ensuring equal
opportunites to basic education , employment and accessibility along with some government
initiatives.Liberalization have its own pros and cons on disabled people of nation.
POSITIVE IMPACT :
Employment opportunities have expanded into private sector.
It has opened the corridors of administrative services.
Social exclusion have been replaced by social inclusion.
literacy rate among this group has increased i.e.54.5 % .
Rights of Person with Disabilities have been ratified under the banner of UN and have designed ACCESSIBLE
INDIA CAMPAING ( Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) recently by government to bridge physical barriers .
NEGATIVE IMPACTS:
Still lacking in adhering inclusive education for children.
only 1.32% teachers have been equipped
with relevant special skills.
still 73.9% of disabled people in employable age are either non- workers or marginal workers i.e. liberalization
have increased competitive market have not affected less degree of employment opportunities .
Women , psycho-social imparirments and hard of hearing are most vulnerable to exploitation.
To conclude, disability is challenge for all and it need to transform their challenges into OPPORTUNITIES by
various means and good governance in this universally open market .
3)

Examine the compliance challenges that GST might face and

measures needed to improve compliance.
GST is no doubt a revolutionary and long-pending reform but there are certain challenges that needs to be
addressed during implementation.
Compliance Challenges

1. Administration issue: it is not clear whether there would be coordination between the departments or
whether the taxpayer will face two tax departments
2. Record-keeping & process to be changed: It would require taxpayers to change their system and
processes which involves lots of cost in order to implement and reap benefit of GST
3. Litigation ambiguity: States have to ratify their own laws for implementation so it is unclear that there
would be two separate litigation
4. Non-compliance-friendly tax regime: draft bill by Department of Revenue appear to be too keen to
safeguard the interest of the tax departments
5. Inflationary Impact: Empowered committees juggling to determine optimal rate using Revenue Neutral
Rate or RNR but if it is higher than the more is its inflationary impact
Measure needed to improve compliance:
1. Reduce the costs of compliance: For the GST regime to be successful
2. More effective costs: associated with evasion so as to induce a behavioral shift
3. Compliance-friendly tax regime: to avoid a number of litigation and complex compliance issues
adherence
4. Balanced tax rate: to avoid inflationary impact initially then slowly increase
After taking first step now a lot has to be dont on Implementation front for GST to reap the benefits of
Economic Growth.

6) Recently the US launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in

Sirte, Libya. Do you think such attacks would weaken terrorists and
stabilize Libya? What should Western powers do to stop spread of ISIS
network in North Africa? Examine.
Five years ago NATO overthrew Muammar Gaddafi. The dictators fall, however,
precipitated a rapid slide into civil war, creating a huge political and security
vacuum with no reliable government to rule Libya. This is attracted IS to Libya to
fill the political vaccum and promote crisis by controlling the oil reserves of
Libya .
The near-constant assault and continuous US air strikes has also pushed the
organization to relocate its training camps making Libya as the perfect choice for
ISIS geographical expansion into Africa.
US strategy against IS has 5 components: air strike, degrading the capacity of
terrorists, shrink their space and territory, prevent funds from flowing to them
and block the channels of recruitment.
How ever the US air strikes does not have its effectiveness in long run due to :
Instead of solving the problem it aggravates the situation - eg air strikes in
Syria forced the is to relocate to Libya and keep expanding its ground , air strike
on Afghanistan leads to emergence of more extreme groups
It takes a heavy toll on innocent civilians.
Not taking a UN route which further weakens the chances of negotiation and
peace .
Air strikes is proving a boon to weapons makers, The open-ended air war
against the Islamic State group results in increased sales for bombs and missiles
Air strikes can led to merging of two jidadist group and danger looms over Libya
by Boko Haram and IS.
Ways to control terrorism
1. Empowerment refugees by giving education and preventing human rights
violation by UN with the help from international NGOs so that more youths do not
joint these radiacal terrorist groups
2. Helping to establish Negotiations between various parties to promote
sustainable governance.
3. Controlling of oil reserves which is backbone of IS for economic funding of its
military.

4. Finance and Weapons Monitoring: UN etc an play a key role in cutting access to
finance and weapons supply.
5. Global Cooperation: Increasing cooperation means sharing lessons learnt,
training personnel and emulating tactics, sharing intelligence and technology
advancements between countries.
6. Global Institutionalization: Multilateral counter-terrorism bodies like GCTF could
play a significant role via talks and policy proposals.
7. Communication among intelligence agencies: There is political unwillingness to
allow direct top-to-top communication between intelligence agencies like RAW, ISI
which some security experts believe If allowed, can be an huge step towards
ensuring nation security.
8. Role of civil society and spiritual leaders in de-radicalization of people. Mere
deprivation and alienation do not cause radicalization, one's "World View" is of
great importance.
1) It is said that in India deprived social groups are using migration to
improve their socio-economic status in the rural economy. Do you think
migration is acting as a harbinger of social equality in rural India?
Examine.
Inequality has been a defining characteristic of the Indian society. To deal with this problem there have been
efforts on the side of government and the individuals themselves. The schemes related to employment,
insurance related to agriculture, health and loans for entrepreneurship and education, reservation for
education and jobs are the efforts of former and migration is that of the latter.
Migration as a harbinger of social equality in rural India has become an interesting topic of study now with
the pace at which urbanisation and industrialisation are happening. The recent study conducted by Institute
of Human Development whose data is presented in a paper based on 7 districts in Bihar(state that has
highest migration rate) regards 12 villages taking upon households of various socio-economic and caste
backgrounds has found that deprived social groups who have no land ownership like Dalits and Muslims
chose to move out to work and their remittances have enabled the respective families to repay their debts
within a short time span. It is to be noted that they chose to migrate than taking up work in GoI Schemes like
MGNREGA owing to paltry income and operational inefficiencies of the latter. This confirms that the social
structure acts as a push factor in addition to the economic factors.
The costs that such migrants pay and their vulnerabilities are:
1) They live in inhumane conditions and are victims of many life threatening diseases.
2) They are deprived of living happily together with their family and kinship groups and lose social capital
forever as a result.
3) Their livelihood depends on the health of market for informal sector they work in. Element of
unpredictability is an issue.
Thus in my opinion though migration is definitely helping people seek new opportunities, it cannot be a
substitute for a generating quality employment in more stable sectors.

2) Discuss the unique features of the Indus Waters Treaty. Do you think
Pakistan is undermining the Indus treaty? Critically comment.

Unique features of IWT:

1) It has gone beyond water sharing to partition of water. The Western Rivers (Indus, Chenab, Jhelum)
around 80% are for Pakistan and the Eastern Rivers ( Sutlej, Ravi, Beas) are for India just about 20% as per
the treaty.
2) It is the one along with the treaty with Bangladesh pertaining to Ganges sharing which deals with transnational water sharing in entire Asia with China having none of its kind despite being starting of many rivers
flowing through neighbouring riparian nations.
Pakistan and IWT:
Pakistan in 2010 had taken to international arbitration taking into its favour the provisions in the dispute
resolution scheme as per IWT and suspended the Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project on Kishenganga. It
instead has gone about with its own mega projects collaborating with China like that of Bunji and Basha dam.
This amounts to disregard to the IWT whose fundamental premise is water sharing, transparency and
collaboration.
Indias probable response:
1) Since the international arbitration has no enforcement mechanism, India has opportunity to declare any

unfavourable end null and void.

2) India can resort to ICJ approved principle of annulling a treaty if the international circumstances have
changed dramatically by the virtue of application of the Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of
Treaties stating Pakistans home rearing of terrorists.
Thus Pakistan will have to be more pragmatic and not spoil the time tested and successful IWT that indeed
does more good to it than to India with the latter dealing with grievances of J&K losing its waters by the gift
given by India.

3) Do you support the growing tendency among State governments to

ban liquor in the apparent interest of protecting the public health? What
are the issues involved? Critically examine.
Prohibition of liquor varies from state to state: complete prohibition,partial prohibition allowing certain types
of liquor and the regulation of the liquor trade by licensing and monopolising either wholesale trade or retail
trade or both.
prohibition of consumption of liquor was included in DPSP of indian constitution.whether to prohibit of liquor
consumption or not better known after knowing its pros and cons:
Argument in favour of liquor prohibition:
1.many people in rural as well as urban area die after consuming spurious liquor. This used to put their
family into deep poverty as no
one left to earn money to run the family.so prohibition cause decrease in availability of liquor and in some
cases total absence hence reduces the health problem faced by them.
2.it will decrease road accident aand crime rate
3.it will decrease domestic violence on women and child.
4. it will led to better saving and hence good spending on food,education,health etc on the family member
Argument against prohibition:
1.it will reduce state tax revenue as many state get their half of their tax revenue for liquor only. a good
example will be Tamilnadu who gets 60% of its total tax revenue from tax levied on sale of the liquor.
2.it will decrease FDI.
3.it will hamper the growth of indian tourism prospect and loss of huge hard currency.
4.it will increase underground liquor mafia trade and corruption.
5.it will violate "RIGHT TO LIFE AND LIBERTY" as mentioned in ART 21 of indian constitution.
MAJOR ISSUES:
1.The law prohibiting liquor consumption are too stringent, a good example will be bihar liquor prohibition
law which punishes whole
adult family member if liquor is found on their premises or one of them is suspected to have consumed it
2.neither there is proper regulation on liqour trade nor the strict vigilance on sale of spurious liquor.
3.higher level politicians and officials are openly violating the laws.
4. dry state people are migrating to other state or even other countries(in case of bihar,it is nepal).
so the right way to encourage abstinence and responsible drinking is through advocacy, public
discourse,school curriculum and not through state force.

4)

What is a Money Bill, and how does it differ from a Financial Bill?
Should Rajya Sabha be given powers on par with Lok Sabha to deal with
Money Bill? Comment.
Differences:
1) Content: A Money Bill is one which has any or all the items listed in Article 110(1) (a) to (g). A financial bill on the other
hand deals with any other matter as well additional to the matters listed under Article 110(1) (a) to (g) or an ordinary bill that
deals with matters related to Consolidated Fund of India.
2) Means of introduction: Money bill only in Lok Sabha as per Article 109. But the other can be introduced in Rajya Sabha as
well except when it deals with taxation.
3) Method of consideration and passage: Money bill is not voted upon by the Rajya Sabha. As per Article 109(5)It has to be
passed within 14 days by RS else it will be deemed as passed in original form. Any suggestions taken or not is solely LSs prerogative. No joint discussion is allowed.
RS and Money Bill:
Currently the LS has more powers regarding money bill. The implied rationale behind being members of LS is directly
elected by people but the RS members are indirectly elected.
> Not to be given powers on par with LS:
1) There will be great delay in passing them when the situation is dire needing quick action.
2) The GoI in helm may resort to ordinances in many instances bypassing even meaningful debate in LS.
> To be given powers on par with LS :

1) RS is representing states and today with the 14th FFC acceptance and GST adoption near soon many demands will arise
pertaining to taxation and funds in CFI with regards to states interest.
2) There will be legislative heck on the actions of executives pertaining to money matters as most dealings really happen in
states whose views must be factored in to enforce accountability in the era of coalition and regional parties.

6) Making Golden Rice available in developing countries is being

opposed by Greenpeace but it has the support of numerous Nobel
Laureates. Discuss various issues raised against and in favour of
introducing Golden Rice.
Golden rice is a orange-yellow colored rice genetically modified to contain beta-carotene which is a precursor
to Vitamin A. This crop has a huge potential for improving the lives of millions of people across developing
countries but that potential still stands under investigation.Arguments in favor of Golden rice are1)It will improve the Vitamin A consumption in children across Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia thereby
reducing incidents of poor eyesight and blindness.
2)Being a food grain it will give the additional benefit of being a diet supplement.
Arguments against Golden Rice are as follows1)Golden Rice is still not cultivable in South and South East Asian environments.As only dry varieties of
Indica rice grow in South Asia and South East Asia and not the sticky variety of Japonica under which
currently grown Golden rice comes.
2)Its bio-availability is still not established. We don't know whether taking it would necessarily help in allow
absorption of beta-carotene.
3)A study conducted in China had established that high intake of fat helps in absorption of betacarotene.However this would not be possible in case of poor African and Asian countries.
4)Environmentalists have consistently opposed genetically modified crops as they fear environmental
degradation because of their introduction.
Proper research is necessary before Golden rice can be established as necessary boon for the society.Any
haste in introduction of this crop might hamper the ecological and agricultural fabric without even offering
any benefits.

1) Does monsoon rain reduce pollution level in Indian cities? Examine

the factors that result in seasonal variation in air pollution.
Monsoon,along with it, brings different set of challenges and opportunities for different segments of
society.For example for farmers a good monsoon mean a bountiful yield whereas the same for city
administrator would be a headache.
In a similar way , monsoon rain also brings some good news for environmentalist where the study suggests
that it helps in reducing the overall pollution level .
1)Rain helps in flushing out of suspended harmful particles in air like PM 2.5 and PM 10
2)Monsoon ensures proliferation of species like Phytoplankton in waterbodies and thereby acting as carbon
sink(though it also depletes oxygen at the same time in these waterbodies).
3)The ecological balance in rivers and waterbodies are maintained by water inflow due to rain which was
earlier affected by seepage of sewage and untreated effluents flowing from industries.
4)Heavy rain also facilitates power generation from hydroelectric plants and thus reduces dependence on
coal based plants and thus less air pollution.
5)During monsoon garbage burning in open gets discouraged and hence reduces air pollution level .
Despite so many positives, Monsoon also has its downside.As it might cause flooding and might result in
direct exposure to contaminants in drainage system.
Air pollution is know to vary seasonally.The levels are different during Winter,Summer,Monsoon and postmonsoon period.Factors responsible for seasonal variation :
1)Natural Factors-During winter, low wind speeds ensures accumulation of pollutants near the surface
resulting in smog.Causes health risks.
2)Anthropogenica)Post monsoon and early winter due to festivals like Diwali,Durga puja, Eid demand for fireworks increases
thus contributing to air pollution.
b)During early summer horticultural/plant residue are burnt in agricultural fields for new sowing season and
releases toxic elements in atmosphere
c)During summer peak hour demand increases for power hence coal based plant are pressed into action.
d)During summer demand for ACs also increases immensely.We know HFCs are used which has high global
warming potential.

2) Instead of focussing on 100 per cent voter turnout, the Election

Commission should focus on zero per cent bribing of voters. Critically
comment.

Money power is the biggest unsolved problem in Indian elections and the root cause of
corruption.It should be the top most priority of the EC to implement effective measures to
curb because
1.Money spent during elections is mainly black money and beyond legally prescribed
limit.Obviously the winners tend to earn more thus leading for more corruption in the system.
2.competitors try to outspend one another to win the elections,Heavy inflow of money into the
economy leads to inflation in turn destroying the economy.
3.People below poverty line are highly vulnerable because of their needs,thus falling an easy
prey for corrupt politicians,they accept money for their needs and in turn vote for them.This
affects the very basic pillars of democracy and elections.
4.Ignorance and economic standard of the masses have become strong points for the corrupt
politicians to lure them into unfair means of voting and winning the elections.
Few measures which can be implemented are,
1. Bringing the political parties under RTI and auditing their accounts regularly to keep in
check the donations and funds received by them.
2. Making public all the donations received by a political party,however small it may be.
Increasing transparency is one of the most effective methods to curb this.
3. A separate division has to be made in the election comission headed by judiciary to take
quick actions against cases regarding bribing of voters or illegal flow of money into elections.
4. Educating the voters about the need for fair elections and the effects of accepting bribes for
votes on the society and economy.
Moral responsibility of the citizens besides these measures can help in effectively curbing this
menace forever, which in turn may bring more voters have confidence on the system and lead
to large voting turnouts.

4) Briefly discuss the nature and objectives of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Do you think such movements today more relevant than ever? Critically
comment.
Narmada has had a significant place in the history of India.It was always known as the river which divided the northern
and southern India into two different cultures,polity and administration via geographical division.In 1980s,the
government on its path of aggressive development decided to harness the hydological capacity of this river.It was
planned to construct a number of dams ranging close to 3000 with two mega dams being Sardar Sarovar Project and
Narmada Sagar dam.To resist the very construction of these dams arose Narmada Bachao Andolan under the leadership
of Medha Patkar.
The objective of this movement was at first to peacefully stop the construction of dams and especially the mega ones.As it
failed to do so even though it won considerable support from the international community,its objectives changed.At one
time it demanded that height of the dam not be raised.And now it aims to fight for adequate resettlement and
rehabilitation of the displaced tribals and rural population.The NBA is characterized by following features1)Its guided by two principles- a)Sangharsh- peaceful resistance to oppression and injustice
b)Navnirman- social reconstruction,resettlement and rehabilitation
2)It brought women and men at parity in terms of leadership
3)It united various castes together on grounds of protection of temples from submergence.
4)It exposes the treachery of corrupt politician-bureaucrat nexus effectively.

--Such movements have become more significant in today's era due to the excessive thrust to development and
increasing problems of environmental degradation.
--It is the need of the hour to move ahead with sustainable development which is enshrined by these movements.
--Also,these movement stand as a check against government oppression and help people in their fight for their rights.
--They bring about social integration.
Civil society is always meant to keep a check on the powers of the executive.These movements provide a voice to the civil
society and its grievances.

5) Critically discuss the socio-economic status of Particularly Vulnerable

Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and impact of government policies on their
wellbeing.
PVTG are those which are classified by government with the purpose of enabling improving condition. As per
the name Socio Economic status is really vulnerable of these groups:
1) Lack of basic facilities: no access to drinking water, electricity, health care, education.
2) High infant molarity rate: Dependency is mainly on forest food or rice, due to little access to nutrient
enrich food causing high rate of malnutrition
3) Lack of connectivity: do to topography, there is no roads thus depriving them from main stream access
Lack of Government efforts:
1) No Aganwadi at top hill: generally Aganwadi are located at foothills, so to get nutrient enrich food supply
one has to go down.
2) CSR funds raised from mining nearby had not been utilised for the benefits of these tribal people.
3) Many residents do not even have Voter ID, exclusion from government programmes like MNREGA is major
problem.
Way ahead
1) More Aganwadi nearby to provide food supply and make regular weigh check of children.
2) NGO to provide informal education about basic health problems and there treatments.
3) Various Programmes on how to use forest resources (land,plants,timber) in better way to meet their basic
needs, without affecting environment.
4) State Government along with health and family welfare, rural development and panchayati raj department
should come with guidelines to meet health and nutritional needs and provide them last mile connectivity.

From ethical perspective, do you think dropping nuclear bombs on

Japanese cities was justified? Analyse both sides of argument.
aking the life of another human being is a crime and dropping a nuclear bomb to create mass destruction is
highly UNETHICAL .
Looking through the eyes of US authorities , we can see the priority of ending the war as quickly as possible
which was prolonging for years .This can be cited as a argument towards the bombing of Japanese cities .
Similarly , the other argument would be of the brutal use of technology which have led to cascading effects
of radiation on the people of Japan till date, which cannot be pardoned .
But we should also understand that, during a war , the main priority of the belligerents involved would be to
win over the enemy .It would be unpredictable on how a leadership will take decisions during a war and its
better to solve issues diplomatically rather than using force .

1)Do you think, post Kashmirs accession to India in 1947, was it Indias
policies that have consistently alienated Kashmiris from India?
Critically discuss.
2) Article 370 which grants Kashmir a "Special Status" was the beginning of Kashmir's alienation. Though an Integral part
of India but governed by it's own constitution with features like only permanent residents of the State can acquire
immovable property and with regard to public employment alienates it even further.
3) Failure of Policy to assimilate Kashmiris 4) 1. Lack of adequate employment opportunities.
5) 2. Heavy use of force to curb processions which leads to human rights violation and lack of connect between the armed
forces and Kashmiris which further alienates them specially the youth.
6) 3. Lack of governance and stable polity. Politicians use the public sentiment for their own benefit instead of trying to find
a solution.

7) 4. Inability of the government to engage with the separationists who command support from certain sections in a
constructive manner.

8) But the situation in Kashmir was not always the same. It had a prosperous tourism industry and the sense of alienation
we witness now was not seen. The alienation started during 1980's with the rise of terrorism from across the border
which mandated the use of Armed forces. The solution lies in economic and social inclusion of the Kashmiris in the
fabric of the country with Digital, Economic, Infrastructure and other dividends reaching them like in the other parts of
the country. Schemes like UDAAN and NAYI MANZIL aims to achieve the same .

3) The next secretary-general of UN should be both a woman and a

feminist, with the determination and leadership to promote womens
rights and gender equality. Comment
UN since its inception in 1945, has always been a male dominated organization and no female secretary-general till date is a
testimony to that. With the changing times, there is a need to reform UN to make it more gender equal and the appointment
of a female secretary-general will be a logical first step in that direction because :
1) it will provide legitimacy and credibility to the various actions undertaken by UN and its agencies in the field of gender
rights and equality all over the world and will help build trust among people
2) a female and a feminist secretary-general will be much more pro-active in taking up women's issues and causes on a global
scale
3) research by Harvard University found that women are more likely to demonstrate strong ability in conflict management,
empathy and influence which are pre-requisites to bring countries towards peaceful and practical solutions to global world
problems and hence a female secretary-general's role becomes much more pivotal
4) it will also act as a source of inspiration for millions of women throughout the world to break male dominance in top
positions in organisations as well as dispel the myth that considers them as a 'weaker sex'
If women such as Theresa May and Angela Merkel can manage and lead their respective countries, it would be hypocritical to
assume that they cannot manage an organisation such as UN

4) Examine the objectives and issues arising out of the provision for the GST
Council to set up a dispute resolution mechanism
The objective of the establishment of GST Council as per the GST amendment bill , 2016 is to act as a dispute resolution
mechanism for the issues arising out of the distribution of taxes .
The main disputes that would come under the purview of GST Council would be to adjudicate dispute between
(i) Center Vs one or more states
(ii) Center and states Vs one or more sates
(iii) state Vs state
Cultural issue :The possible issues that would arise will be related to certain products that a state consider to be
exempted from tax due to its culturally value . example : Banaras sarees are exempted from tax in Uttar pradesh ,
similarly , Thaali used for wedding in exempted from taxation .
Economic issue : Certain states like Gujarat imposes prohibition on liquor but on the other hand Goa imposes lower tax
on alcohol because of the demand for it in the tourism industry that is a revenue earner for the state .
Legal issue : another issue would be of the state approaching the Supreme court for redressing the issues between the
center and states . Since , Supreme court have the exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate the cases between center and state,
would automatically negate the verdict of the GST Council in the long run .
GST council can become a competent authority to adjudicate the case , if retired judges are given importance in the
council due to the high competence required in dealing with the cases

5) It is argued that the procedures of Indias parliament need to be

reformed, updated and modernised. Discuss why.
Although the Indian constitution specifies the overall framework describing the election, membership and privileges of
both houses of the Indian Parliament, it does not elaborate the rules and regulations necessary for the day-to-day
functioning of the legislative branch.
For these purposes, the constitution enables both houses to frame their own rules of conducting business. Both LS and
RS have therefore framed rules which guide the everyday functioning of respective chambers. As with all rules and
regulations, these must be updated from time to time in order to increase efficiency within the parliament.
Among the rules that need a revision, some important ones are:
1) Standing committee scrutiny should be made mandatory for every bill to avoid hasty and ill-considered legislation
2) Allowing a mandatory time-delay between a bill's introduction and passage so that all members have the opportunity
to go through it
3) Like the RS members, Lok Sabha members must also create a register of member's assests to improve transparency
and check corruption
4) Stricter guidelines for the speaker to decide which bill can be labelled as "money bill" so that his/her discretion doesn't
become subservient to the party's interests over national interests
5) More definitive elaboration of member's "privilege" to avoid frivolous privilege motions being passed as a way of
political mud-slinging
Parliamentary rules and procedures are regularly brought up-to-date in all westminster and non-westminster model
democracies and improving these rules is followed by an improvement in the quality, quantity and overall efficacy of the
legislative branch so it is imperative that our parliament update the rules of procedure as soon as possible. (265)

6) Political parties are disrupting Parliament demanding fulfilment of the

promise of Special Category State status to Andhra Pradesh following the
creation of Telangana. Why is Andhra Pradesh demanding Special Category
status? What benefits does Special Category status provide? Examine.
Special Category Status is accorded to some states by NDC based on certain criteria like hilly and difficult terrain, low
population density, strategic location, economic backwardness, non viable nature of state finances.
.Various benefits of SCS includes:
1)Significant concession in excise & customs duties, income tax and corporate tax
2)Normal central assistance of 30% in the form of 90% of grants and 10% as loans
3)Additional central assistance for externally aided projects and other specific project.
4)Special Central Assistance - an additional amount which can be used for economic development.
5) Unspent money does not lapse and gets carry forward.
6) 30 percent of planned expenditure (central budget) goes to special category states
The bifurcation of AP and moving away of Hyderabad in Telangana has left AP with severe revenue deficits and the
hudhud cyclone and drought like conditions have added further disadvantages for which AP demands SCS. AP argues
That funding from the Centre in the form of funding to build the capital, Amaravati, the Polavaram dam, and
infrastructure projects like Metros in Vijayawada and Vizag, have not fructified.
the solution for this lies in understanding betwwen both state and center. AP needs to be uplifted by developong projects
and central schemes

7) What do you understand by state capacity? Why are many experts

arguing that India should now focus more on building state capacity?
Discuss.
State capacity refers to the ability and capability of a nation to administer its territory so as to assure all its citizens for a
safe, secured, just and comfortable living. The improvement in state capacity will improve the GDP of the nation to a

great extent. It will in fact complete the success of market reforms that of late has seen remarkable progress by the way of
Bankruptcy and Insolvency code, GST, FDI reforms etc.
Building state capacity:
To begin with the states and centre can co-ordinate in bringing about reforms in the sectors where both of them must put
in complementary efforts like that of administration, police and court system.
1) Administration: Lateral entries can be increased to attract experts into administrative field that is facing understaffing.
The insights provided by second ARC can be used. The concurrent subjects ought to be managed well taking help of the
NITI Aayog.
2) Police: UN recommends that there ought to be 222 cops per lakh population but in India we have only 140. This is
further compounded by the non-separation of investigation and law and order branches as well as politicisation of police
force. Police modernisation is to be taken up seriously and to that end the Soli Sorabjee committee recommendations can
be considered.
3) Court system: The HCs and SC have made certain rulings which are contradictory to one another. This has to be
sorted out immediately keeping in view the full faith and credit provision in Indian constitution. The number of judges
must be made 50 per million population as stated by the 1987 law commission report which took note of the dismal state
of 10.5 judges per million at that time.

7) India leads the world in road crash deaths and injuries. In your
opinion, who is to be blamed for this? What measures should be taken
by concerned authorities to prevent deaths due to road accidents?
Discuss.
The mortality and injury caused by road crash is highest in India. The reasons could well be :
1)Non-adherence to road safety protocols like not following Traffic signal.
2)Rash driving/drunken driving/ or any accident caused due to exceeding speed limit.A behavioral aspect
3)Corruption by officers of Motor vehicle department where they issue licenses to even an untrained
driver.
4)Growing economy ensured increase in number of cars per capita and thereby increasing density of cars
on road(indirect cause).
5)Pothole/open drains and failure to maintain roads by Highway authorities and civil bodies.
6)Lack of basic medical skills(First aid) in ordinary citizens and absence of tertiary healthcare system in
most part of the country.
7)Encroachment of footpath by vendors forcing the pedestrian to avail road.
8)Most important-The issue due to decentralized in nature doesn't figure on the priority list of political
parties and government as little to return in form of political gains
These frequent cases are a matter of concern as :
1)Loss of precious life wjich could have otherwise contributed to the economy in one way or other.
2)Loss of limbs or injuries or paralysis makes the victim a burden on the family as well as state.The
consumption expenditure increases in form of drugs, medical test etc. Forces poor in debt cycle in
absence of insurance.
Thus, the government should do the following :
1)Enact a strong Road safety legislation by including best practices from around the world and also
include views of all stakeholders(already doing).
2)Amend IPC laws to make cases of overspeeding/rash driving non-bailable in nature.Will act as deterrent.
3)Improve digital (CCTV) and Physical infrastructure(Speed bumper,better quality roads)
4)Amend Street vendors Act to do away with such encroachment.
5)Make acquiring first aid skill mandatory for getting a licence.
6)Strengthen public healthcare system by investing in tertiary health care system as many cases are
medically complicated .Ensure timely supply of medicine,blood.
7)Include acts done to save peoples live in such cases in National bravery award.
8)Timely compensation to victim so that no financial hardship is caused.
9)Improve the data collection and make it more scientific so that future policies could be modeled on it.
10)Have a proper mechanism to ascertain the real cause behind such accident so that the Driver doesn't
get prosecuted for no fault of his.

What is the Territorial Army (TA) What is its mandate? Does India
need TA? Examine.
Territorial army is a military force that can be mobilised whenever required for efficient administration
and security of part is threatened. It is a planned way of maintaining reserve military force when
emergencies arises.
Territorial army is composed of group of volunteer already engaged in some profession ,but has
undergone military training for few days in a month. They are used to relieve the static job of military
force and assist civil administration in dealing with the natural calamity. It is also asked to maintain
essential services in a situation where life a community is affected or security of country is threatened .
Mandates for Territorial army
1) The territorial army in India has been organised under the Territorial act which was passed in 1948.

2) the volunteer has to undergo a minimum of one month training in a calendar year.
3)any volunteer between 18 and 42 years of age can participate .
In India,it is very much required to maintain territorial army for the following reason.
1) It helps in dealing with natural calamities. Like Bhuj earthquake, Sikkim earthquake etc.
2) India is facing problem of infiltration in J&K and number of soldiers gets killed in prevented in this. Is is
very necessary to curb infiltration .
3)India is facing not only external threat but also internal threat such as naxalism , vandalism etc.
4) the essential services can be easily provided.
The nation can be progress by maintaining peace and providing essential services . This can be achieved
by maintaining Territorial army.

1) Critically analyse the nature of cow protection movement in pre

and post independent India.
Cow protection has been a significant agenda prior and even post independent India. The nature of cow
protection has shown wide range spectrum during last two centuries.
Pre-independence Nature:
1. Cow protection was primarily passive in nature.
2. Historically, in early 1880s, implementation machinery for cow protection was mobilisation of people,
dissemination of information and awareness about importance of cow as a cattle, milk provider,etc. Like
Arya Samaj using petitions and pamphlets for this purpose and establishing "Gau rakshak committees".
3. The cow protection process was not politically motivated and neither divisive in nature.
4. Being a highly conservative and religious society, cow was always construed as symbol of motherhood
and blessing as stated in scriptures and religious texts. Hence, at societal level, cow was respected in
most domains of society.
Overall pre-independent era of cow protection was based constructive methods and and using non-violent
mechanism to show their resentment against any negative activity against cows.
Post-independence Nature:
1. Cow protection has primarily become active in nature with a violent undercurrent.
2. In accordance to article 48, regarding duty of each state to prohibit slaughtering of drought and milch
animals, it became an executive responsibility to protect cow slaughtering.
3. Now cow protection has inclined more towards a political tool to garner support and sympathy from
various sections of society like recent incidents of public shaming of Dalit youths and traders by politically
motivated individuals.
4. Current Indian society is on its path to become more tolerant and inclusive. Extreme steps are usually
not initiated by members of society especially that of sub-urban areas against someone who consumes
beef.
Overall pro-independence era of cow protection shows a dichotomy in nature as political agents tends to
instigate section of people for their personal gains and other section of society tends to have become
tolerant.
Way forward:
India is a tolerant and inclusive civilization. Even our preamble enshrines the principle of liberty and
justice. Cattle protection should be taken into a holistic manner without jeopardising personal liberty of
individuals. At the same time, people being involved in unlawful activities by executing violence against
cow traders need to punish. This will put India as rational and a inclusive society in the global arena as
well.

2) Critically analyse Indias policy vis a vis SAARC and Pakistan.

South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation(SAARC) was founded in 1985 with headquarters at
Khatmandu promotes economical and regional integration of the 8 south asian countries who are it's
members. India is an active member of SAARC and has come up with many policies to enhance unilateral,
bilateral, sub-regional and trans-regional relations with it's members.
In spite of these policies, Pakistan who is also a key player of this association has not been co-operating
with India for several reasons such as:
1. China factor: Growing ties of China and Pakistan
2. Legacy: conflicts b/w India and Pak on issues such as Kashmir issue, Indus water treaty, Sercreet issue
etc., are also playing as a major factor in Pak's oppostion to India's policies in SAARC.
India's participation in SAARC:
1. Satellite only for SAARC ountries: Pakistan rejected for one such satellite.
2. Multilateral motor vehicle agreement: With the help of this agreement a boost in Indian economy has
been observed and also enhanced Indian relationship with the neighboring countries such as Nepal,
Bhutan. Because of security issues, Pakistan is not willing t implement this agreement with India.
Current India's policies now wrt SAARC countries:
1. With the ongoing scenarios it can be clearly stated that India's relation with SAARC has been more of
"SAARC minus Pakistan".

2. India is enhancing it's partnership with the rest of the countries by increasing trade by signing free
trade agreements.
Going ahead:
The recent visit of our home minister Rajnath sing's visit to Pak for SAARC home minster's meet has not
been a fruitful one as Pakistan was not willing to co-operate with India on many issues. Despite this,
Modi's visit Islamabad to attend the SAARC conference this year shows India's unwillingness to give up on
the ties b/w India and Pak. This will help in long term and will also potray India's image in the global
community as a peace keeping country also India's "neighbor first policy" can be enhanced.

3) Discuss how USA can help advance the cause of arms control,
Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.
USA, who is a key player of many International organizations such as UNO is coming up with policies
which are going to reduce the nuclear non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control.
With increase in global terrorism, President Mr. Barack Obama has given a serious thought on reduction of
arms and nuclear weapons across the globe. With this tenure coming to an end he is working very hard to
implement few such policies which will continue atleast for a period of another 10 years.
Policies which USA is planning to adopt:
1.Adopting to No First Use (NFU) policy over 'First strike with a trigger alert' on nuclear weapons.
2. Re-affirming the international norms against Nuclear test ban treaty.
3.Extending term on NEW START arms reduction treaty by another 5 years.
4. Cutting back long term plans for modernizing the nation's nuclear arsenal.
Support from organizations and members of USA:
1. 10 Important US senators have backed these policies.
2. NGO's related to Arms reduction such as Arms Control Reduction.
3. International physicians for prevention of nuclear war.
4. Parliamentarians for nuclear non-proliferation and dis-armament.
Support from countries:
Japan is backing these policies of USA.
These policies clearly show that USA is emphasizing on a global platform to bring down terrorism to
spread peace and the world a better place to live for the future generations.

4) Is India ready to host Olympics? Do you think hosting the Olympic

will act as a tool of development fo rthe host country? Comment.
With over 16% of world population,$ 2 TRILLION gdp and a strong democratic and instutional setup,india
is definitely ready to host the Olympics.
Hosting the olympics will act as a development tool in the following ways,
*Economic development
-with large contigents and teams from multiple nations visiting will boost exports,economy and
consumption
*Hard and Soft power
will showcase our competence,ability and grit to host,manage and conduct multiple games .acting as
boost to our global image and international position
*Cultural mix and development
-people of different regions,country,culture and ethnicities will know about our respectful culture
and traditions.eg- concept of ATHITHI devo bhava.
*Sports development
-help construction and upgradation of useful infra,facilities and support.impetus to sporting
culture,exceelence and talent.eg- commonwealth games in 2010
the hosting city will be ethched in memory of olympic history infusing sense of pride in our citizens to be
a part of the summit of all games,the OLMPICS

5)

Do you think competitive federalism is working in India? Discuss.

The advent of "Competitive Federalism" in India began with the formation of NITI Ayog which lays stress on a bottom-up
approach to planning, giving States the required autonomy to formulate the policies that suit their conditions instead of "One
size fits all" approach.
Visible results of Competitive Federalism 1. Divulging 42% share of central taxes to states to make them more self reliant and prudent in their finances. This will
encourage bottom up approach and local level planning.

2. States competing among themselves for investment like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana investors summit and big ticket
investment prospects in Telangana from Google and Apple.
3. Reform in Land and Labor laws for ease of doing business e.g. Gujarat and Karnataka labor reforms and Land leasing
increment from 33 to 99 years in Andhra Pradesh.
4. More opportunities to reap demographic dividend and infrastructure development e.g. Karnataka allowing establishments to
be open for longer and women to work at night.
But care must be shown that reforms like removal of social impact assessment and consent clause in States like Gujarat doesn't
lead to exploitation of the poor masses.
Competitive federalism would lead to replicating of policies of high performing states by the low performing states thus leading
to a more prosperous society and make the states more accountable to the public due to more autonomy in decision making and
less dependence on the central government.

6) Recently, Water Resources Minister told Lok Sabha that the

government was planning to create fish ladders in the Ganga near
the Farakka Barrage to help hilsa travel upstream to spawn. What do
you understand by fish ladders? Whats the purpose of this move?
Examine.
A fish ladder, or fishway, is essentially a structure that allows
migrating fish passage over or around an obstacle dams, culverts,
waterfalls on a river. Fishways give anadromous fish whose survival
depends on migration a detour, and have been considered critical in
keeping up fish stocks. The ladder contains a series of ascending pools that are reached by
swimming against a stream of water. Fish leap through the cascade of
rushing water, rest in a pool, and then repeat the process until they
are out of the ladder.
The main purpose of the move is to conserve Hilsa, an anadromous fish which spawns in fresh
water. Ever since the construction of Farakka Barrage the fish has rarely traveled as far as
Patna which has resulted in it's regional disappearance. This has led to it's congregation below
the barrage due to which it is indiscriminately killed even before it can breed. This is
endangering the fish which might have negative effects on it's population in the long run.
It will have two fold effects of facilitating the movement of the fish beyond the Farakka baragge
which will help it reclaim it's natural habitat to areas far beyond e.g. Allahabad and in it's
breeding. Combined with this it will also provide opportunity to the fisherman of these areas in
augmenting their fish catch and also improve protein requirement of the rural people as it is a
good source of protein.

6)

Do you think using law enforcement approach as a primary tactic to

fight digital piracy would help the cause? What other approaches can
be used? Analyse
Law enforcement as a primary tactic to fight digital piracy would help the cause partially and not completely due to the
following reasons :

1) The Digital content that is being uploaded into the internet would be from a server that is outside the territorial limits
of the nation and it would be tough for the law enforcement agency to track down the people behind it .
2) If a persons responsible behind are tracked down and made to shut down , then another website in some name would
pop up .
3) Highly skilled personnel would be required to track down and arrest the culprits which would increase the cost of
policing .
Other approaches that can be put in place to solve the problem are :
1) The Digital content especially related to Entertainment can uploaded into video viewing sites like YouTube , Daily
motion etc. which would demotivate people from downloading the content and in the process help the producers gain
money though advertisements on the video sharing site .
2) Computer professionals can be hired by the Government to take over the websites that is illegally uploading content
on the internet .
3) An awareness campaign on the ill effects of piracy and offering minimal chargers would help reduce piracy related to
online books and other contents with quality information .
4) A standard procedure can be implemented in asking the Internet giants like Google , help the government in locating
the server that is distributing contents illegally .
A well coordinated strategy between the Government , civil society and Internet companies can help solve this menace to
a large extent .
7)

What do you understand by Restrictive Interest Rate Policies (RIRP),

Zero Interest Rate Policies (ZIRP) and Negative Interest Rate Policies
(NIRP)? It is said that RIRP will not lead to higher inflation even though
ZIRP and NIRP generate and entrench deflation. Elaborate.
Restrictive Interest Rate Policies ( RIRP ) also called as Contractionary policy, where the central bank tries to absorb
money from the market and ultimately resulting slow economic growth rate and more unemployment .
Zero Interest Rate Policies ( ZIRP ) is a macro economic concept , where the interest rate is kept very low almost
equivalent to 0% to energize the economy by supplying more cash into the public domain .
Negative Interest Rate Policies ( NIRP ) is a concept used in times depression by keeping the interest rate low where the
borrowers get paid and savers get penalized . Its mainly used to spur inflation and reinvigorate the economy when all
other options are exhausted .
RIRP helps in taming inflation in the economy on a SHORT TERM basis but in the LONG RUN, it gives to rise to
inflation due to the inefficiency in the supply side arising out the slowdown . Same case applies to ZIRP and NIRP
because these tools help increase economic growth in the SHORT TERM but in the LONG RUN , it can lead to high
deflation because people find the value of money being reduced and gets motivated to save more, thereby reducing
demand.
The monetary policy of a country should be based on a balance between the inflation and deflation tendencies to keep the
economy healthy by giving way to optimal growth and employment .

Do you attribute political rise of women leaders in India to the men

around them? In your opinion, what should change in India to see
women occupy powerful posts? Critically comment
We all had surely heard a saying that "Every Successful Man has a Women Behind him",but
when we look at the Political battlefield in India we can see many Women Warriors who had a
male counterpart behind them.
History has been the witness of the rise of many women leaders who rose partly with their skills
and partly because of the support of a Male family member or a Mentor. Right from Mrs. Indira
Gandhi who had the name of Pd. Jawaharlal Nehru behind her, to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi(Rajiv Gandhi)
to Jayalalitha (M.G.Ramachandran) to Mayawati (Kanshi Ram). Its equally true that all these
women later turned out to be one of the most powerful women because of their talent and skills
but the early rise can be attributed to a Male Member.
Though this rule does not always hold good as leaders like Mamta Bannerjee, Uma Bharati have
been the lone warriors and Survivors.
But these examples are very few in History ,we need to change a lot to see the Women leaders in
the fore front.
What needs to change ??
1) Behavioural Change/Stereotypical Change:-This is the most imp. change that our society
needs , change the attitude towards women, not just think of them as one who takes care of
house and children. We need to change the stereotypes related to females.
2)Societal Change: Changing the patriarchal Mindset of the society. This will take time but it is
very much possible with the support of govt. and Intelligentsia class.
3)Political Change:-Just like the Panchayats and Municipalities , women needs a certain defined
representation in the highest decision making bodies in India also , for this a bill making women
reservation mandatory in parliament should be passed with all ayes.
4)Economic Changes:- Women needs to be made self reliable, schemes like STAND UP INDIA
can be good start. We need more Women participation in the Economic activity.
We can not see India as a Superpower till the time there is discrimination & disassociation with
Women. Women make half of the world population ,so they deserve and need Half of the world's
power in social, economic and political platform..

2) What do you understand by Urban sprawl? Discuss the challenges

and potential posed by growing urban sprawl in Indian cities.
Urban sprawl can be defined as peripheral expansion of urban boundaries due to migration of population
from core urban areas towards low density adjacent areas of the city. That is why it is also called as
peripheral-urbanisation.
An estimate in accordance to world bank report states that India's urban population will surge to 600
million by 2031. Hence, the phenomenon of urban sprawl is an indispensable implication due to this rise.
But urban sprawl has its own associated positive aspects and also corresponding challenges which needs
to examined and tackled.
Positive implications of urban sprawl:
1. Excessive pressure on city resources will offset due to cities' adjacent area development and thus
amplifying environmental resources.
2. Augment quality of social life as availability of resources will increase, thus leading to accessibility to
basic resources like sanitation, potable water and also towards reduced traffic congestion.
3. Availability of basic resources would establish commercial arenas leading to better economic
opportunities for general populace and thus reducing incidence of criminalisation.
4. Governance capacity would also increase due to dispersed population.
Challenges associated to urban sprawl:
1. Unplanned expansion of cities could lead to various bottlenecks in basic amenities and wasting of
various resources.
2. Overemphasis on commercialisation of adjacent urban lands would give rise to pockets of
developments and effecting agricultural capacities.
3. Without conserving the traditional economic activities in sub-urban areas would lead to increased
industrialisation of these areas and in turn leading to environmental hazards.
Way forward:
Various governmental schemes like National Rurban Mission emphasis on tackling the core issues of

urban expansion by focussing on basic infrastructural development in these areas. Further,

decentralisation of developmental activities in these areas would lead to participative development, as
these areas are not included in Urban Local Bodies. Thus, even though pressure of core urban areas is
increasing, it can be tackled, thus reinforcing india's growth and development and maintaining it as a
bright spot in the global economy.

3) Compared to previous education policies, the new draft NEP 2016

is substantially different in its vision of society, social purposes,
understanding of aims of education and their articulation. Critically
discuss
Change is the only constant thing in this Universe. Everything evolve with time and so has our
Education Policy as well.
Earlier NPE came in 1968 and 1986. The Policies were framed in the backdrop of the time period for
example in 1968 the stress was mostly on Nation Building since we were at a nascent stage of
democracy, so stress was on Justice, equality and liberty and Fraternity.
With time individual needs deepened so the policy of 1986 also laid stress on the Individual
Independence.
Now the NEP 2016 has come up keeping in mind the competitiveness and race for development and
economic growth. Its outlook is different from the earlier policies. The difference can be understood under
these heads:1.Difference in the vision of society:- During the earlier Policies of 1968 and 1986,the world was not
this much Globalized and was not this transient, but today the society is fast changing and Globalizing ,
this difference has led to the changes in the vision of society. The vision of the presen NEP 2016 is to
create a Knowledge based economy and Society.(KBES).
2.Differences in Social Purposes:- The purpose of earlier policies was more on Social values like
equality , fraternity and justice and less on Economic growth but the current Nation Education Policy aims
to extract the best of Economic values from individuals, making them employable ,creating skills in them
and as already mentioned creating a KBES.
3.Differences in the Understanding of the aims of education:- The NEP understands the
Commercial aims of Education unlike the other policies(1968,1986), which were more stressing on
understanding the world , human life and aesthetic value.
The Present Policy is more inclined towards creating Pliable citizens with Knowledge skills to be able to
reap the benefits of Demographic dividends unlike the earlier one whose main aim was to create a Blissful
and more independent Individual.
Thus what is evident is that the present NEP, though is in sync with the changing nature of the society, in
line with the race for the development and is in order with the growth of Commercialization and
Globalization but misses some of the important societal aspects and aims of Education. The Draft bill
should contain these societal values along with these commercial values so as to develop a complete
individual with more independent mind and better outlook. INDIA, our country which is multicultural while
dreaming of becoming world leader with schemes like start up India, stand up India, make in India with slogan of sabka
saath sabka vikas,new education policy should integrate basic vision in our constitution
with ever changing need rather than changing basic vision.
Along with it, previous policies despite having a clear vision but not achieving goals indicates implementation in its pure
sense is lacking.
When both these are taken care of there will be no need of frequent change of policies

4) Compare and contrast the merits and demerits of the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, with previous
child labour laws.
Exploitation of demographic dividend relies on the ability of the state to provide nutritious, safe and educational
childhood to all children. On the other hand, India is facing the heat of large number of child labourers. 2011 census
states that India has close to 4.3 million child labourers. This situation needs to be tackled. Recent step in this direction
was Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016.

Merits of the New act:

1. Absolute prohibition of children below 14 years in all occupations and no engagement of children below 18 years in
hazardous occupations whose violation would attract 2 years of imprisonment and fine upto Rs 50,000.
2. Allows child labour in family and family enterprises, thus preserving traditional occupational activities.
3. To augment lives of child labour for which Rehabilitation fund for child labour has been established.
Demerits of the New Act:
1. List to cover scope of hazardous occupation has been diminished from 83 to activities like mining, explosives and list
in Factory's act.
2. Nature and time limitation has not been defined for the children working in family enterprises. This act as an main
obstruction to their educational endeavour.
3. List of hazardous factories can be amended by the state government. Thus, leading to non-uniform implementation of
this act.
Way forward:
Article 24 and 45 prohibits employment of children below 14 years of age in hazardous occupations and states
responsibility to provide free and compulsory education to these children respectively. Though government has taken
many steps to implement various dimensions of these constitutionally defined rights by RTE Act, 2009 and mid-day
meals but still various aspects needs to be covered.
Increment in children and women welfare budget and in-housing schools through Sarva Shikha Abhiyan would reinforce
the intended purpose of such acts. As equality of opportunity has been enshrined in our constitution, it needs to be
practiced through efficient implementation machinery.

5) Will the implementation of GST erode states autonomy? Examine

the implications of GST for Indias federalism.
Goods and service tax is most dramatic development in fiscal framework of India. It is one of the much
awaited reform to improve tax collection and compliance. However, it s also said, that it will hamper the
financial autonomy of states hence federalism due to following reasons1) Nationwide uniform rate of GST will erode the state's discretion to decide their taxes. And it is also
called centralization of tax system.
2) Centre has sole power to decide interstate GST(IGST).even central law will prescribe the method of
sharing revenue from IGST.
3) Uniform taxation system will adversely affect those states which are more inclined to welfare
expenditure like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra etc, and it will also affect the revenue of prosperous states.
However, GST has provision for centre and state GST. and central law can not override state's law with
regard to state GST as well, state's will be compensated for 5 Years for loss of revenue. and GST council
will decide the matter concerning GST ether rates, exception of taxes etc indicating toward cooperative
federalism.
Although, GST will unified tax structure of India to maximum extent, et states will have sufficient financial
autonomy in light of increased share for states in central divisional pool recommended by 14th Finance
commission, And on contrary to version of federalism, it may lead to cooperative federalism.

6) In your opinion, what should be done to help the most vulnerable

communities become more resilient to the effects of climate change,
especially in countries like India? Discuss.
With the growing threat of climate change and climate related disasters it's imperative that communities
be empowered to reduce their vulnerability.
The climate changes have serious implications for a number of resources including agriculture,water
reserves and quality , ecosystems like coastal areas etc.

Efforts needed.
A. Building the capacity of national and regional institutions to assess and respond to the environmental
sources of vulnerability
B. Promoting the integration of environmental options into existing policies framework and international
strategies on environmental reduction, climate action , biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation
C.. Increasing productivity and diversity of livelihood. Financial institutions can act as a game changer.
D. Enhancing carbon sequestration capacity and activities that reduces climate risk in affected areas ex
reforestation and other measures related to natural resources management.
E. Rural development such as guaranteed employment for the vulnerable areas and investment in
infrastructure.
F. Water policies and planning ex integrated water management resources etc
G. Risk management such as contingency plans, insurance, seed banks etc.
GOI has already taken various measures such as national solar mission, national mission on sustainable
habitat, national mission for green India, national water mission, the national mission for sustaining
Himalayan ecosystem etc.
Such measures should be taken in letter and spirit with the help of Private sector,ngo's etc. against the ill
effects of climate changes.

8)

Analyse the important provisions of the Mental Health Care Bill, 2013
and the implementation challenges this Bill might face.
The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 repeals the Mental Health Act, 1987. It was brought in to align domestic
law with United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. The following the
provisions of the bill.
1. Rights of persons with mental illness by giving access to mental health care, taking forward the rights
based approach.
2. Mentally ill person can give advance directive on how he/she needs to be treated and who will be his/her
nominated representative.
3 Central and state mental health authority will be responsible for training and availability of mental health
professionals.
4. All mental health establishments needs to be registered with central and state mental health authority.
5. The Mental Health Review Commission, a quasi-judicial body that will periodically review the use of and
the procedure for making advance directives and advise the government on protection of the rights of
mentally ill persons. The Commission shall with the concurrence of the state governments, constitute
Mental Health Review Boards in the districts of a state.
6. Decriminalises suicide and prohibiting electro-convulsive therapy
7. The Bill provides that every insurance company shall provide medical insurance for mentally ill person on
the same basis as is available for physical illness.
While decriminalising suicide and prohibiting electro-conclusive therapy, advance directives, are humane
approaches, the problems arises with inadequate health infrastructure in India. The allocation for health in
2015 is only 1.2% of GDP, in which mental health care got paltry attention and funding. The doctor to
patient ration of 1: 1700 is also not very encouraging. Health being a state subject, the result has been not
so encouraging except for southern parts of the country. Moreover there is no provision to bring back these
people into the main stream, such people even when cured suffers from social ostracization.
Hence the bill is a positive step in the right direction, but there is an urgent to increase public expenditure in
mental health care.

9)

Critically analyse the objectives and provisions of the draft bill for the
proposed Indian National Defence University (INDU).
Indian National Defence University (INDU) is a proposed university of defence of the Government of India
which will be established at Binola in Gurgaon, Haryana.
Objectives:
to provide for the establishment of Indian National Defence University as a teaching and affiliating
University to promote excellence in the areas of National Security Studies, Defence Technology, Defence
Management and other related fields and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Provisions:
1. Four new institutions/colleges will be set up as the INDUs constituent colleges.
2. Open and Distance Learning Programmes for Service personnel
3. Indian National Defence University is proposed to be governed by its own norms

4. Defence Minister will be the proposed universitys Chancellor, the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee
will be the pro-chancellor and the President will act as a Visitor to the University.
5. 66% of students would be from the Armed Forces, whereas 33% of students would be drawn from other
government agencies
6. The teaching faculty will comprise of both military personnel and civilians in the ratio of 1:1.
INDU is the culmination of an idea since 1967. Today the service personnel is dependent on distance
courses offered by universities like IGNOU, now they will be getting specialized courses specific to their
field. The university being autonomous will facilitate international collaboration in defence studies and much
needed research in the field. The diversity of faculty background will bring in civilian perspective to defence
studies.
However it is not clear how INDU will integrate the existing tri-services institutions for Professional Military
Education which currently are working in silos- the National Defence College is for Brigadiers, College of
Defence Management for Colonels and Staff College for Majors, and their equivalents in the other services.
Hence INDU is a move in the right direction, since govt has put the draft bill in public domain for debate and
discussion, we can expect the issue of integration to be resolved in the final draft.

1) That Hindutva is less virulent in India than Islamism is in many

Muslim nations might have much to do with the fact that, at least in
India, some of our leading anti-colonial leaders also aimed their
criticism inwards at Hindu society. Critically comment.
The Hindutva in India,which focuses more on caste based prejudice and some other backward aspect of
Hinduism is less virulent in comparison to Islamism in many Muslim countries of world due to following
reasons-\
1) Anti-colonial leadership- Which were equally critical to some backward philosophies like untouchability,
sati system, child marriages, landlord system etc as much as they were critical to colonial power.
2) Promotion of socialist philosophy- Pre Independence, majority of leaders were socialist and have mass
based support irrespective of their caste or religion and promoted socialist philosophy.
3) India had been subject of partition and violence incited by mixture of politics and religion. Hence more
cautious about violent form of Hindutva.
4) Secular and progressive constitution and effective democratic system- which provides mechanism to
check any virulent tendency in majority community.
5) Economic and social development based on participation of all segment of society is another reason,
which demand more cooperation and collaboration rather than confrontation.and Hindu society is not
homogeneous group to encourage violent trend
However, despite these facts, in pre colonial period, Hindutva promoted by some national leader took the
violent form gradually, like cow protection movement has now become violent and many political parties
segmentize the community for their narrow interest.though violence in Hindutva is not for religious reasons
yet it is included into to conserve their pseudo religious and political rights.
India is diverse country , where rule of law must be upmost and justice and protection of every individual
and segment must be protected by law.

2) Recently, another new government was sworn in Nepal. What

challenges does the new Prime Minister of Nepal face in handling
domestic affairs and in its relations with India? Examine.
the recent establishment of govt in nepal under the leadership of mr.prachanda has led to new hope of
restoration of peace, normalcy and development in NEPAL. But he faces the following challenges
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS
*protests of madhesis living in terai region of nepal for due devolution of powers and delimitation of
boundaries according to ethnic and cultural concerns
*issues of citizenship which has unreasonable provisions of cut-off age, marriage with foreigners and ethical
discrimination
*imposition of patriarchal norms in constiution sidelining role and relevance of women in civil and domestic
laws.eg-inheritance
*increased pressure of allies to declare NEPAL a hindu state
*LAND reforms to to redistribute them to poor, a central issue for Maoists.
*relief,rehabilation and re-integration of earthquake affected people
*challenge of taking NC,UML,UMDP AND OTHER parties together
CHALLENGES WITH INDIA
*the issue of gasoil and energy supply which was recently cutoff creating crisis in nepal
*issue of porous borders,smuggling,drug trafficiking,counterfeit currency and river water sharing
*increasing tilt towards china.eg- recent LHASA road connectivity project
*the tendency to blame INDIA for interference and BIG brother attitude

thus there are numerous challenges for MR prachanda to face and his real ability is going to be tested in
balancing DOMESTIC and foreign affairs of his country

3) In your opinion, what does the rising number of terror attacks and
the entry of new outfits into Pakistans jihadist map indicate? Should
India be concerned? Critically comment.
Recent terror attacks in pakistan like in hospital suicide attack and university attack really hints towards
increasing the terrorism in pakistani soil with new entrants supported by ISIS and other terrorist groups
Following are the indications=====
1. More radicalization is on the way resulting into spoiling large no of youth and workforce.
2. Destabilization among army and state official and disagreement on various critical issues.
3. More threat to peace and security to normal people and more communal violence is on rise.
4. High no of death and attack in schools and hospitals and other cristal places indicate a new mode of
terrorism in which potential candidate like women and children are being targeted.
5. Loss of revenue , infrastructure, demographic dividends, labour and other economic and bussiness
activities.
India must be concerned about theSe activities due to following reasons====
1. One of Largest no of muslim population country in the world which may pose communal and other type of
violence.
2. Infiltration of terrorist from porous border along india pakistan and india and bangladesh.
3. More threat as ISIS activities are rising day by day and coupled with that this new outfit may pose a high
challenge for security and defence mechanism
4. More technological and internet social networking sites etc use by terror outsit posses a new kind of
challenge.
But india has also adopted a lot of constructive tactics to prohibited the movement like de radicalization
measures in fragile areas , more cyber security cells, proposal for NCTC, NATGRID, border fencing with 3
layered security system etc.
Way forward ======
The time is ripe for indian security mechanism to strengthen every bit of surveillance sysytem from radar to
cyber etc for an effective check against increasing theart of new outfits in territory of india. With this more
measures like development job creation and opportunity for free choice and liberal approach must be
adopted towards minor

Do you support recent recommendation of the Parliamentary

Committee on Salaries and Allowances to double the salaries of MPs?
Should MPs decide their own salaries? Critically comment.
Recent recommendation of Parliament committee to hike salaries of MPS is justifiable on following ground1) Present low salary structure- At present, Parliamentarians salary is lower than secretary level officers.
Being the member of highest law making institution of country, they deserve, at equivalent salary to
officers.
2) Corruption- Higher salaries will low the incentives of corruption in politics and will ensure financial
security for members. And, they can focus more on legislative work more efficiently.
3) International practices also indicate that, salaries of members of legislature are higher in comparison of
Indian Parliamentarians even in purchasing power parity terms.
However, the criteria of salary fixation, and reasonability of parliamentarians to decide is issue of debate.
Parliament is highest decision making body and represent people of India and it's states, so its decision are
of utmost authenticate. Yet deciding salaries for themselves declares its transparency and accountability in
this context. Hence there must be an Independent body, which can fix MPs salary based on transparent
procedure and taking different reasonable factor in account.

6) Do you think higher economic growth guarantees more medals in

Olympic Games? In your opinion, what it takes for a country to do well
at the Olympic Games? Discuss.
An Higher economic growth cannot be considered as a benchmark on the number of medals it gets in
Olympic games can be understood by the lower number of medal tally of countries like Luxembourg ,
Switzerland etc despite on having high economic prosperity .
There are many other factors that can influence the metal tally of a nation as discussed below :
1) POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY : A Nation with large population would be in a better position to find talent
pool. example : china is one of the country which have benefited from this characteristics .
2) HEALTH OF THE POPULATION : A country with a better health quality would be able to produce more
strong athletics who can go on to win a medal . example : USA is a country with good health quality that
could reap the benefits in Olympics .

3) GENDER INEQUALITY : A country with poor gender inequality is expected to perform poorly at the
Olympics . example : Arab countries could make great inroads in the medal tally due to the lack of rights for
its women in social sphere .
4) STATE OF THE ART FACILITY :A country which invest in able to invest in state of the art Infrastructure
facilities is able to win more medals comparatively because of the advantage available to its sports
persons . example : South Korea is country which have benefited from this aspect.
5) one of the most crucial aspect is "societal outlook" towards the sports. A country where majority of
people consider the sports as a non-productive and a activity second to academics is likely to be found in
the bottom of medal tally. On the other hand countries which treat sports as a profession and cherish its cutthroat competition is more likely to produce champions.
These indicators should help our country to think and improve upon on the gray areas to win more medals
and inculcate a sportive spirit in the youth .