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  • Q.2 Eurasia involves the recalibration of India’s continental strategy. India has certainly dealt with Eurasia’s constituent spaces separately over the decades. What Delhi now needs is an integrated approach to Eurasia. In the context of this, examine the challenges in India’s engagement with Eurasia and suggest the elements that should form part of India’s strategy towards Eurasia. (10 Marks)

    Mentor’s comment-
    • https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-needs-a-new-integrated-approach-to-eurasia-7613805/
    • In the intro, mention the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape with the assertive nature of China.
    • In the body, mention the salience of the region for India. In the challenges mention connectivity challenge and challenges posed by China etc. In the elements of India’s strategy mention the presence of Europe in India’s continental calculus, which involves engagement with the EU and NATO, intensifying dialogue on Eurasian security with Russia, and substantive Indian collaboration with both Persia and Arabia.
    • Conclude by mentioning that the key for India lies in greater strategic activism that opens opportunities in all directions in Eurasia.

  • Q.1 Examine how press started by prominent Indians both in English and vernacular languages influenced the freedom struggle. Also, discuss the British reaction to this new form of Indian expression. (15 Marks)

    Mentor’s Comments-

    • Briefly mention about the start of the press and thereafter give details about the newspapers published by the Indians.
    • Give details about the impact of press on the Freedom Struggle.
    • Write about the acts enacted by the British Government to curb the growth and expansion of free press.
    • Conclude appropriately.

  • The long road to Net Zero

    India has joined a high-profile group of countries pledging for net-zero target by 2070.

    What does Net-Zero mean?

    • Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
    • That would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there are no emissions at all, a scenario hard to comprehend.
    • Therefore, net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

    What’s the difference between gross zero and net-zero?

    • Gross zero would mean stopping all emissions, which isn’t realistically attainable across all sectors of our lives and industry.
    • Even with best efforts to reduce them, there will still be some emissions.
    • Net-zero looks at emissions overall, allowing for the removal of any unavoidable emissions, such as those from aviation or manufacturing.
    • Removing greenhouse gases could be via nature, as trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or through new technology or changing industrial processes.

    What is carbon negativity?

    • It is even possible for a country to have negative emissions if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions.
    • *Bhutan has negative emissions because it absorbs more than it emits.

    What is the outlook for India’s emissions?

    • Analysis of India’s growth path points to rising GDP per capita, with a rise in carbon emissions in the short term, primarily from energy.
    • There is pressure from absolute increase in population and consumption, but population growth is slowing.

    India’s major emission sources

    • In terms of sectoral GHG emissions, data from 2016 show that electricity and heat account for the highest share (1.11 billion tonnes).
    • It is followed by agriculture (704.16 million tonnes), manufacturing and construction (533.8 million tonnes), transport (265.3 million tonnes), industry (130.61 million tonnes).
    • Land-use change and forestry (126.43 million tonnes) is also a major source.
    • Other fuel use (119.04 million tonnes), buildings (109.2 million tonnes), waste (80.98 million tonnes), fugitive emissions (54.95 million tonnes) accounts for major urban sources.
    • Aviation and shipping (20.4 million tonnes) accounts for the least source of emission.

    Immediate interventions that can be made

    • Legal mechanism: India needs to create a legal mandate for climate impact assessment of all activities.
    • Investment: This can facilitate investment by dedicated green funds.
    • Wholistic participation: Public sector institutions promoted by the government, co-operatives and even market mechanisms will participate.
    • Renewable energy: The 500 GW renewables target needs a major boost, such as channeling more national and international climate funding into decentralized solar power.
    • Hydrogen economy: Another emerging sector is green hydrogen production because of its potential as a clean fuel. India has a National Hydrogen Mission now in place.
    • Waste Management: India’s urban solid waste management will need to modernise to curb methane emissions from unscientific landfills.
    • Stored carbon mitigation: Preventing the release of stored carbon in the environment, such as trees and soil, has to be a net zero priority.

    Role of developed countries

    • India’s argument is that it has historically been one of the lowest emitters of GHGs.
    • The impetus has to come from the developed economies that had the benefit of carbon-intensive development since the Industrial Revolution.

    Way forward

    • These plans need a political consensus and support from State governments.
    • Net-zero will involve industrial renewal using green innovation, green economy support and supply chains yielding new jobs.
    • It also needs low carbon technologies, zero-emission vehicles, and renewed cities promoting walking and cycling.
    • The industry will need to make highly energy-efficient goods that last longer, and consumers should be given a legal right to repair goods they buy.

     

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  • Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan

    India is hosting the National Security Advisors (NSAs) level ‘Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan’ this week.

    About the dialogue

    • It will be headed by NSA Ajit Doval.
    • It aims to organise a conference of regional stakeholders and important powers on the country’s current situation and the future outlook.
    • Invitations are sent to Afghanistan’s neighbours such as Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and other key players including Russia, and China.

    Pakistan’s response

    • Not surprisingly, Pakistan has denounced India’s invitation. China too followed Pakistan’s footsteps.
    • Had Pakistan consented to come, it would have been the first high-level visit to India from Pakistan since 2016.
    • Pakistani position reflects its mindset on Afghanistan, where it has played a conspiring role.
    • It reflects its mindset of viewing Afghanistan as its protectorate.

    Response from the other countries

    • India’s invitation has seen an overwhelming response.
    • Central Asian countries as well as Russia and Iran have confirmed participation.

    Significance of the dialogue

    • This will be the first time that all Central Asian countries, and not just Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours, would be participating in this format.
    • The enthusiastic response is a manifestation of the importance attached to India’s role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan.
    • If peace is established in Afghanistan, it could become a major trading hub as a corridor of connectivity in the heart of Asia.

    When you are not at the table, you are on the menu… this conference is India’s attempt to set the table, be on the table, and decide the agenda.

    India’s motive for the conference

    • This is India’s attempt to secure for itself a seat at the table to decide the future course of action on Afghanistan.
    • It underlines the need to actively engage with the world to protect India’s security interests.
    • Until the fall of Kabul, India had not engaged with the Taliban through publicly-announced official channels.

    India’s expectations form Taliban Govt

    • Taliban should not allow safe havens for terror on its soil.
    • The administration should be inclusive, and the rights of minorities, women, and children must be protected.

     

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  • What is Freedom of Air?

    A flight from Srinagar to Sharjah had to avoid flying over Pakistan after the country denied permission to use its airspace for the said flight. With this refusal, Pakistan has violated the first freedom of air.

    Freedom of Air

    • Following the Chicago Convention in 1944, the signatories decided to set rules that would act as fundamental building blocks to international commercial aviation.
    • As a part of these rules, initially, six ‘freedoms of air’ were decided.
    • These freedoms or rights still operate within the ambit of multilateral and bilateral treaties.
    • It allows to grant airlines of a particular country the privilege to use and/or land in another country’s airspace.

    ‘Freedoms’ accorded

    1. Flying over a foreign country without landing
    2. Refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country without embarking or disembarking passengers or cargo
    3. Fly from the home country and land in a foreign country
    4. Fly from a foreign country and land in the home country
    5. Fly from the home country to a foreign country, stopping in another foreign country on the way
    6. Fly from a foreign country to another foreign country, stopping in the home country on the way
    7. Fly from a foreign country to another foreign country, without stopping in the home country
    8. Fly from the home country to a foreign country, then on to another destination within the same foreign country
    9. Fly internally within a foreign country

    Why did Pakistan deny use of its airspace?

    • There has been no official explanation given by Pakistan authorities.
    • Indian has approached Pakistan to raise the issue of the refusal to use its airspace for the said flight.
    • Notably, other Indian airlines flying to west Asia from airports such as Delhi, Lucknow, etc have not been barred from using Pakistan airspace.
    • This also raises the concern of Pakistan violating the first freedom of air.

     

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  • India now ahead of China in financial inclusion metrics: SBI report

    India is now ahead of China in financial inclusion metrics, with mobile and Internet banking transactions rising to 13,615 per 1,000 adults in 2020 from 183 in 2015.

    What does one mean by Financial Inclusion?

    • Financial inclusion is defined as the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services.
    • It refers to a process by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and services.
    • These include banking, loan, equity and insurance products etc.

    Key highlights of the Report

    • Boosted by PM Jan-Dhan Yojana, the number of bank branches per 100,000 adults in India rose to 14.7 in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015.
    • It is higher than Germany, China and South Africa.
    • Data shows that states with higher Jan-Dhan accounts balances have seen a perceptible decline in crime.

    How did India achieve financial inclusion?

    • Financial inclusion policies have a multiplier effect on economic growth, reducing poverty and income inequality, while also being conducive for financial stability.
    • India has stolen a march in financial inclusion with the initiation of PMJDY accounts since 2014.
    • It was enabled by a robust digital infrastructure and also careful recalibration of bank branches and thereby using the BC model judiciously.
    • Such financial inclusion has also been enabled by use of digital payments.

    What is the BC Model?

    • The report highlighted that the Banking Correspondent (BC) model in India is enabled to provide a defined range of banking services at low cost.
    • The new branch authorisation policy of 2017 –recognises BCs that provide banking services for a minimum of 4-hours per day and for at least 5-days a week as banking outlets.
    • The BCs are enabled to provide a defined range of banking services at low cost and hence are instrumental in promoting financial inclusion.
    • This has progressively done away the need to set up brick and mortar branches.

     

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  • UNESCO picks Srinagar as ‘Creative City’

    The UNESCO has picked up Srinagar among 49 cities as part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the Crafts and Folk Arts category.

    What is UCCN?

    • UCCN created in 2004, is a network of cities that are thriving, active centers of cultural activities in their respective countries.
    • These cities can be from all continents with different income levels or with different levels of populations.
    • UCCN believes that these cities are working towards a common mission by placing creativity at the core of their urban development plans to make the region resilient, safe, inclusive and sustainable.
    • Ministry of Culture is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters in UNESCO relating to culture.

    Objective of UCCN

    • Placing creativity and the creative economy at the core of their urban development plans to make cities safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

    The 7 categories for recognition under UCCN are as follows:

    • Crafts and Folk Arts
    • Design
    • Film
    • Gastronomy (food)
    • Music
    • Media Arts
    • Literature

    Previously, 3 Indian cities were recognized as members of UCCN namely-

    • Jaipur-Crafts and Folk Arts (2015)
    • Varanasi-Creative city of Music (2015)
    • Chennai-Creative city of Music (2017)
    • Mumbai-Film (2019)
    • Hyderabad- Gastronomy (2019)

     

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  • 9th November 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

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    [WpProQuiz 829]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 829]

  • Beyond the Basics: How to Write Above-Average Answers for GS4 Ethics?|| Free Webinar By 140 scorer Sukanya Rana Ma’am || Limited Seats Only, Reserve Your Spot Now

    Beyond the Basics: How to Write Above-Average Answers for GS4 Ethics?|| Free Webinar By 140 scorer Sukanya Rana Ma’am || Limited Seats Only, Reserve Your Spot Now

    enroll here to attend free ethics webinar by sukanya rana maam

    Every aspirant studies the same standard book for Ethics and gets the same time during exam. And yet, only a few score above 110+ while others don’t. Why? 

    Answer writing for GS4 Ethics is not an inborn talent, it is a skill you can master with the right approach and guidance.

    Join Sukanya Rana Ma’am as she takes you through the advanced nuances of GS4 Ethics and solves a few case studies in the free webinar on 10 November (Wednesday)

    Why Should you Attend this Webinar?

    Every time and every year almost 90% of the GS4 questions come from topics covered in standard books. This is unlike your GS2 and GS3 papers. Hence, it has the least syllabus out of all the papers. The challenges faced by most aspirants in Ethics is not syllabus coverage.

    But writing what is covered in the standard books alone won’t fetch you extra marks. Do you think most of your time is spent understanding the case study than framing an answer for it? Do you want ready-made answers in your mind and write as you go?

    Then this free webinar is the for you! Advance your possibility of success by learning from Sukanya Rana Ma’am who scored 140 in 2019 Ethics paper.

    What will you Learn in this Webinar?

    1. Five years paper analysis of Ethics. What are the trends you shouldn’t miss?

    2. Get an extra edge in your answers. How to have an analytical approach in your answers?

    3. The 3 common types of questions asked in the exam. What are they?

    4. The trickier aspects of the exam. How to answer quote based questions?

    5. Time-management techniques for GS4 Ethics. How not to compromise quality in your answers?

    ENROLL HERE TO ATTEND FREE ETHICS WEBINAR BY SUKANYA RANA MAAM

    Webinar Details

    All aspirants are welcome to interact with Sukanya Ma’am and clear their doubts in the Q&A session. This webinar is absolutely free and only requires prior registration.

    Date: 10 November (Wednesday)

    Time: 3 P.M

    About Sukanya Rana Ma’am

    Sukanya ma’am has the experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews in UPSC. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before being a mentor at Civilsdaily, she worked as an officer in a public sector bank. Sukanya Rana Ma’am is passionate about guiding future officers in finding success.

    As an aspirant, she consistently scored 100+ marks in Ethics paper. Notably, in 2019 her marks were 140 in GS 4. Under her mentorship, many Smash Mains 2020 students were able to secure 110+ marks.

    ENROLL HERE TO ATTEND FREE ETHICS WEBINAR BY SUKANYA RANA MAAM

  • [Burning Issue] Data: The New Gold

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    In the age of the digital economy, data is the “new oil” and the “new gold”. Lots of apps have no revenue generation, but their only benefit is data. This business model of the Internet is called Surveillance capitalism, where all social media apps and other such platforms make their money collecting data on users and monetizing that. Companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon have all built empires atop the data economy.

    India is in a strong position to lead the world in the industry 4.0 revolution that relies on big data analytics and digital technology to improve manufacturing. The cheap cost of mobile data in India and the increasing use of digital technology to set up businesses will facilitate economic transactions and interaction with the government. Let us understand the topic in detail and try to understand what data is and why it has garnered such importance.

    What is Data?

    • Data refers to distinct pieces of information, usually formatted and stored in a way that is concordant with a specific purpose.
    • Since the advent of computer science in the mid-1900s, however, data most commonly refers to information that is transmitted or stored electronically.
    • Data has become the forefront of many mainstream conversations about technology. New innovations constantly draw commentary on data, how we use and analyze it, and broader implications for those effects.

    What is Big data?

    • Big Data is a phrase used to mean a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is so large it is difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques.
    • Through the use of high-end computing and algorithms, Big data has been used in the industry to provide customer insights by analyzing and predicting customer behavior through data derived from social media.
    • Big data analytics: The process of collecting, organizing, and synthesizing large sets of data to discover patterns or other useful information.

    What is Data privacy?

    • Data privacy or information privacy is a branch of data security concerned with the proper handling of data – consent, notice, and regulatory obligations.
    • It got highlighted when identifiable data of about 50 million Facebook users was breached by an analytics firm.
    • Privacy is a basic human right, in the digital age where life has so prominently got integrated with the digital world, data privacy has become a human right too.

    What is Industrial Revolution 4.0?

    • The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) is a term that describes present technological age. It is the fourth industrial era since the inception of the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century.
    • The key elements of the fourth revolution are the fusion of technologies ranging from the physical, digital to biological spheres.

    Characteristics of IR 4.0

    • It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.
    • It brings together digital technology and the physical world to create a new range of products and services.
    • The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited.
    • And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.
    • The revolution is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace and it is disrupting almost every industry in every country.

    Why data is so important?

    • How data will be employed fruitfully, and its value captured, will decide a nation’s rank in the emerging new global geo-economic and geo-political hierarchies.
    • The global digital or artificial intelligence (AI) economy is currently a two-horse race between the U.S. and China.
    • It is feared that all other countries, including the European Union (EU) and major developing countries such as India, will have to become fully digitally dependent on one of these two digital superpowers.
    • This will considerably compromise their economic and political independence, something referred to as digital colonization.
    • The shift to digital power, and its concentration, is very evident. Seven of the top eight companies by market cap globally today are data-based corporations.
    • A decade back, this list was dominated by industrial and oil giants. Almost all top digital corporations in the world are U.S. or Chinese.

    What is Digital India

    • Digital India is a campaign launched to ensure the Government’s services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or by making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology.
    • The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks.
    • Digital India consists of three core components: the development of secure and stable digital infrastructure, delivering government services digitally, and universal digital literacy.
    • Key Projects include Digilockers, SBM Mobile app, e-Sign framework to enable citizens to digitally sign document online, online registration system launched under e-Hospital application, etc.

    What is the digital economy?

    • Digital economy is defined as an economy that focuses on digital technologies, i.e. it is based on digital and computing technologies.
    • It essentially covers all business, economic, social, cultural etc. activities that are supported by the web and other digital communication technologies.
    • There are three main components of this economy:
      1. e-business
      2. e-business infrastructure
      3. e-commerce

    Data Requires Infrastructure

    • Just as oil requires infrastructure for storage and transportation, data requires infrastructure in the form of software and hardware.
    • Any business that wants to maintain data for analytics will need technology for collecting the data and storing the data.
    • Good data infrastructure has the following qualities:
      1. Available — obviously, you should be able to retrieve data from the system in a reasonable amount of time. Especially if you plan to frequently reuse the data for analytics.
      2. Fault-tolerant — what happens if a machine suddenly fails and the data on it is lost or corrupted? You need a system that can handle events such as these without losing data. This is where distributed computing comes into play in big data applications.
      3. Cost-effective — data infrastructure that becomes unnecessarily expensive becomes a liability rather than an asset.

    Why Digital Economy is important for India?

    • Increase in Revenues: When the transactions are digitized, monitoring sales and taxes becomes convenient. This increase the revenue of the government resulting in growth of the overall financial status of the country.
    • Removal of Black Economy: When the transactions are made digitally, they can be easily monitored. There will be no means for illegal transactions to occur. By restricting the cash-based transactions can efficiently expel the black economy.
    • Empowerment to People: One of the biggest advantages of moving towards digital economy is that it gives an empowerment to the citizens. When the payments move digital, each and every individual is bound to have a bank account, a mobile phone, etc.
      • The government can easily transfer the subsidies directly to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of people.
    • Creation of New Jobs: The digital economy has a lot of potential to enhance job opportunities in new market as well as increasing employment opportunities in some of the existing occupations in the government.
    • Paves the Way to e-Governance: The quicker, safe, and more efficient alternative traditional governance, e-governance will be the ultimate outcome of the digital economy. Thus, it is convenient for people to access the information they need on the go.

    What is digital market imbalance and how to fix it?

    • Due to inability of government to address this market concentration, it has resulted in the creation of digital market oligarchy because larger players like Facebook, Google, Amazon etc enjoy significant returns to scale.
    • Thereby the digital economy poses a problem for competition policy.
    • Economic policies must itself move towards digitization to remain relevant in this digital era. This can be done by:
      1. India must protect its startups from becoming proprietary of foreign brands (through takeovers), this can be done by allowing preferential shares.
        • For eg: Take over of Flipkart by Walmart.
      2. Data must be monetized on part of data subjects, data subjects must be paid a royalty for use of their data.
      3. The government must lay down policies that put a check on anti-competitive policies of these digital companies. In this light, Draft e-commerce policy is a welcome step.
      4. India till now has no law to stop apps from sharing your data with data brokers or data analytics firms.
      5. An ideal data protection law must reflect the Supreme Court’s recent decision: That all interference with the right to privacy must be necessary and proportionate.
      6. Data protection law must incorporate inspiration from the European Union’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and BN Srikrishna report.
      7. The law must also lay down norms of accountability on part of digital tech giants.
      8. Also, the government must clear the air around the use of Aadhaar that has raised speculations about the surveillance state.

    What is mean data protection?

    • Data protection is the process of safeguarding important information from corruption, compromise or loss.
    • Data is the large collection of information that is stored in a computer or on a network.
    • The importance of data protection increases as the amount of data created and stored continues to grow at unprecedented rates.

    What is the need for data protection?

    • Large number of web users: There are about 504 million active web users and India’s online market is second only to China.
    • Data as a source of profit: Large collection of information about individuals and their online habits has become an important source of profits.
    • Concern of privacy: It is also a potential avenue for invasion of privacy because it can reveal extremely personal aspects.
      • Companies, governments, and political parties find it valuable because they can use it to find the most convincing ways to advertise to you online.

    Laws for Data Protection across the Globe:

    • European Union: The primary aim of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is to give individuals control over their personal data.
    • US: It has sectoral laws to deal with matters of digital privacy such as the US Privacy Act, 1974, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act etc.

    Initiatives in India

    1) Information Technology Act, 2000

    • It provides for safeguard against certain breaches in relation to data from computer systems. It contains provisions to prevent the unauthorized use of computers, computer systems and data stored therein.

    2) Personal Data Protection Bill 2019

    • The Supreme Court maintained the right to privacy as a fundamental right in the landmark decision of K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of India 2017 after which the Union government had appointed Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee for proposing skeletal legislation in the discipline of data protection.
    • The Committee came up with its report and draft legislation in the form of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018.
    • In 2019, Parliament again revised the Bill and much deviation from the 2018 Bill was evident. The new Bill was named as Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.
      • The purpose of this Bill is to provide for protection of privacy of individuals relating to their Personal Data and to establish a Data Protection Authority of India for the said purposes and the matters concerning the personal data of an individual.

    Way Forward

    • In this digital age, data is a valuable resource that should not be left unregulated.
      • The time is ripe for India to have a robust data protection regime.
    • Policies need to be reformulated to ensure that it focuses on user rights with an emphasis on user privacy. A privacy commission would have to be established to enforce these rights.
    • The government would also have to respect the privacy of the citizens while strengthening the right to information.
    • Additionally, the technological leaps made in the last two to three years also need to be addressed knowing that they have the capacity of turning the law redundant.

    Conclusion

    • The digital economy seems to be growing and flourishing very well even without such regimes.
    • Disengaging from signing binding agreements on uninhibited data flows across borders does not mean that a country would simply localize all data.
      • Some kinds of data may indeed need to be localized, while others should freely flow globally.
    • It just means that a country retains complete data policy space, and the means to shape its digital industrialization, and thus its digital future.
    • Appropriate data policies must ensure that the required data is actually available to Indian digital businesses.

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  • AUKUS could rock China’s boat in the Indo-Pacific

    Context

    The trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) continues to be in the news.

    Implications for ASEAN

    • There is also the matter of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) disunity over the emergence of AUKUS.
    •  While AUKUS is clearly an attempt by the U.S. to bolster regional security, including securing Australia’s seaborne trade, any sudden accretion in Australia’s naval capabilities is bound to cause unease in the region.
    • Even though Australia has denied that AUKUS is a defence alliance, this hardly prevents China from exploiting ASEAN’s concerns at having to face a Hobson’s choice amidst worsening U.S.-China regional rivalry.
    •  AUKUS is based on a shared commitment of its three members to deepening diplomatic, security and defence cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
    • Even though this has not been stated explicitly, the rise of China, particularly its rapid militarisation and aggressive behaviour, is undoubtedly the trigger.

    Relations of AUKUS members with China

    • The AUKUS joint statement clearly acknowledges that trilateral defence ties are decades old, and that AUKUS aims to further joint capabilities and interoperability.
    • For three nations, their relations with China have recently been marked by contretemps.
    • Australia, especially, had for years subordinated its strategic assessment of China to transactional commercial interests.
    • Much to China’s chagrin, its policy of deliberately targeting Australian exports has not yielded the desired results.
    • Instead of kow-towing, the plucky Australian character has led Canberra to favour a fundamental overhaul of its China policy.
    • The transfer of sensitive submarine technology by the U.S. to the U.K. is a sui generis arrangement based on their long-standing Mutual Defence Agreement of 1958.
    • Elements in the broader agenda provide opportunities to the U.S., the U.K. and Australia to engage the regional countries.

    AUKUS engagement with regional countries

    • All three nations will also play a major role in U.S.-led programmes such as Build Back Better World, Blue Dot Network and Clean Network, to meet the challenge of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
    • The Quad and AUKUS are distinct, yet complementary. Neither diminishes the other.
    • Whereas the Quad initiatives straddle the Indian and the Pacific Oceans, a Pacific-centric orientation for AUKUS has advantages.
    • Such a strategy could potentially strengthen Japan’s security as well as that of Taiwan in the face of China’s mounting bellicosity.
    • Shifting AUKUS’s fulcrum to the Pacific Ocean could reassure ASEAN nations.
    • It could also inure AUKUS to any insidious insinuation that accretion in the number of nuclear submarines plying the Indo-Pacific might upset the balance of power in the Indian Ocean.

    Conclusion

    There are limited options in the economic arena with China already having emerged as a global economic powerhouse. AUKUS, though, provides an opportunity to the U.S. to place proxy submarine forces to limit China’s forays, especially in the Pacific Ocean.

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  • Beyond the Basics: How to Write Above-Average Answers for GS4 Ethics?|| Free Webinar By 140 scorer Sukanya Rana Ma’am || Limited Seats Only, Reserve Your Spot Now

    Beyond the Basics: How to Write Above-Average Answers for GS4 Ethics?|| Free Webinar By 140 scorer Sukanya Rana Ma’am || Limited Seats Only, Reserve Your Spot Now

    enroll here to attend free ethics webinar by sukanya rana maam

    Every aspirant studies the same standard book for Ethics and gets the same time during exam. And yet, only a few score above 110+ while others don’t. Why? 

    Answer writing for GS4 Ethics is not an inborn talent, it is a skill you can master with the right approach and guidance.

    Join Sukanya Rana Ma’am as she takes you through the advanced nuances of GS4 Ethics and solves a few case studies in the free webinar on 10 November (Wednesday)

    Why Should you Attend this Webinar?

    Every time and every year almost 90% of the GS4 questions come from topics covered in standard books. This is unlike your GS2 and GS3 papers. Hence, it has the least syllabus out of all the papers. The challenges faced by most aspirants in Ethics is not syllabus coverage.

    But writing what is covered in the standard books alone won’t fetch you extra marks. Do you think most of your time is spent understanding the case study than framing an answer for it? Do you want ready-made answers in your mind and write as you go?

    Then this free webinar is the for you! Advance your possibility of success by learning from Sukanya Rana Ma’am who scored 140 in 2019 Ethics paper.

    What will you Learn in this Webinar?

    1. Five years paper analysis of Ethics. What are the trends you shouldn’t miss?

    2. Get an extra edge in your answers. How to have an analytical approach in your answers?

    3. The 3 common types of questions asked in the exam. What are they?

    4. The trickier aspects of the exam. How to answer quote based questions?

    5. Time-management techniques for GS4 Ethics. How not to compromise quality in your answers?

    ENROLL HERE TO ATTEND FREE ETHICS WEBINAR BY SUKANYA RANA MAAM

    Webinar Details

    All aspirants are welcome to interact with Sukanya Ma’am and clear their doubts in the Q&A session. This webinar is absolutely free and only requires prior registration.

    Date: 10 November (Wednesday)

    Time: 3 P.M

    About Sukanya Rana Ma’am

    Sukanya ma’am has the experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews in UPSC. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before being a mentor at Civilsdaily, she worked as an officer in a public sector bank. Sukanya Rana Ma’am is passionate about guiding future officers in finding success.

    As an aspirant, she consistently scored 100+ marks in Ethics paper. Notably, in 2019 her marks were 140 in GS 4. Under her mentorship, many Smash Mains 2020 students were able to secure 110+ marks.

    ENROLL HERE TO ATTEND FREE ETHICS WEBINAR BY SUKANYA RANA MAAM

  • A new jurisprudence for political prisoners

    Context

    In Thwaha Fasal vs Union of India, the Court has acted in its introspective jurisdiction and deconstructed the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) with a great sense of legal realism. This paves the way for a formidable judicial authority against blatant misuse of this law.

    Background of the case

    • In this case from Kerala, there are three accused.
    • The police registered the case and later the investigation was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
    • During the investigation, some materials containing radical literature were found, which included a book on caste issues in India and a translation of the dissent notes written by Rosa Luxemburg to Lenin.
    • Thus, the provisions of the UAPA were invoked.
    • After initial rejection of the pleas, the trial judge granted bail to both the accused in September 2020.
    • The Supreme Court was emphatic and liberal when it said that mere association with a terrorist organisation is not sufficient to attract the offences alleged.
    • Unless and until the association and the support were “with intention of furthering the activities of a terrorist organisation”, offence under Section 38 or Section 39 is not made out, said the Court.

    Issues with UAPA

    • Section 43D(5) of the UAPA says that for many of the offences under the Act, bail should not be granted, if “on perusal of the case diary or the report (of the investigation), there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation is prima facie true”.
    • Thus, the Act prompts the Court to consider the version of the prosecution alone while deciding the question of bail.
    • Unlike the Criminal Procedure Code, the UAPA, by virtue of the proviso to Section 43D(2), permits keeping a person in prison for up to 180 days, without even filing a charge sheet.
    • Prevents examination of the facts: The statute prevents a comprehensive examination of the facts of the case on the one hand, and prolongs the trial indefinitely by keeping the accused in prison on the other.
    • Instead of presumption of innocence, the UAPA holds presumption of guilt of the accused.
    • In Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, the Court said that by virtue of Section 43D(5) of UAPA, the burden is on the accused to show that the prosecution case is not prima facie true.
    • The proposition in Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali is that the bail court should not even investigate deeply into the materials and evidence and should consider the bail plea, primarily based on the nature of allegations, for, according to the Court, Section 43D(5) prohibits a thorough and deeper examination.
    • The top court has now altered this terrible legal landscape.

    Key takeaways from the judgement

    • The text of the laws sometimes poses immense challenge to the courts by limiting the space for judicial discretion and adjudication.
    • The courts usually adopt two mutually contradictory methods in dealing with such tough provisions.
    • One is to read and apply the provision literally and mechanically which has the effect of curtailing the individual freedom as intended by the makers of the law.
    • In contrast to this approach, there could be a constitutional reading of the statute, which perceives the issues in a human rights angle and tries to mitigate the rigour of the content of the law.

    Conclusion

    The judgment should be invoked to release other political prisoners in the country who have been denied bail either due to the harshness of the law or due to the follies in understanding the law or both.

  • We need greater global cooperation

    Context

    Our thinking about the international system is focussed on a new era of great power competition. An assertive China is seeking to refashion the international order and exercise greater regional hegemony.

    Refashioning the international order

    • Recently, Secretary Antony Blinken outlined the US approach to China: “Competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be.”
    • This pretty much describes the approach of every country in the world to this geopolitical moment.
    • The big question is whether the competitive and adversarial dynamics are now so deep that the space for “collaboration” is diminishing fast.
    • There is now bipartisan consensus in the US that China needs to be contained; just as China is convinced that the US will not only not tolerate China’s further rise.

    Great power competition between the US and China

    • Two dynamics were supposed to counteract the risks of great power competition.
    • Global economic interdependence: The first was global economic interdependence.
    • Global trade has rebounded to its pre-pandemic levels.
    • The logic of interdependence is now under severe ideological stress.
    • Interdependence has not led to greater convergence on political values or a more open global political order.
    • Common challenges fostering global cooperation: The second dynamic counteracting competition was the idea that common challenges like climate change, the pandemic and the risks posed by technology will foster greater global cooperation.
    •  All the global crises that should have been occasions for global cooperation have become the sites for intensifying global competition.

    Climate and global health: Indicator of lack of global cooperation

    • It is hard to convince anyone that most countries of the world were willing to treat the pandemic as a global public health crisis.
    • The shift in the climate change discourse is about intensifying technological competition and maintaining national economic supremacy, rather than solving a global problem.
    •  It is not entirely clear that all the innovations induced by this competitive dynamic will, in fact, limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
    • It also leaves the question of a modicum of justice in the international order entirely unresolved.
    • We have also learnt over the last couple of decades that the international system, and all global public goods, including security, can be made extremely vulnerable even by small groups carrying a sense of grievance.
    • So, the distribution of technology, finance, and developmental space will matter.
    • India, in the context of what other countries are doing, takes a very well-judged stance at the international level.
    • But it is difficult not to wonder whether a country that lets its citizens breathe the foulest air, and cannot get its head around a solvable problem of stubble burning, can project seriousness.
    • So, climate and global public health, rather than acting as a spur to global cooperation are going to be symptoms of a deep pathology.

    Global risks and declining multilateral institutions

    • Areas where global risks are increasing include-Cyber threats, the possible risks of unregulated technology, whether in artificial intelligence or biological research, competition in space, a renewed competition in nuclear weapons and an intensifying arms race.
    •  In not a single one of these areas is there a serious prospect of any country thinking outside of an adversarial nationalist frame.
    • The old multilateral system was undergirded by, and partially an instrument for, US power.
    • The term multilateral has also been deeply damaged by a cynical use, where it simply refers to a group of countries rather than a single or a couple of countries acting together.
    • It is high time the term be used only in a context where there is agreement on global rules or an architecture to genuinely solve a global public goods problem.
    • These may still reflect power differentials, but at least they are oriented to problem-solving at a global level.
    • In this sense, one would be hard-pressed to find any genuinely multilateral institutions left.

    Consider the question “What are the challenge facing global order in the present context? Suggest the measures to preserve the global order aimed towards greater global cooperation.”

    Conclusion

    The real choice for the world is not just navigating between China and the United States. It is fundamentally between an orientation that is committed to global problem-solving rather than just preserving national supremacy.

  • A brief history of India’s Poverty Levels

    Poverty in India had increased between 2012 and 2020.

    What is Poverty?

    • Fundamentally, the concept of poverty is associated with socially perceived deprivation with respect to basic human needs (Tendulkar, 2009).
    • This is a crucial definition to consider since the Tendulkar committee’s estimation method is the last officially recognized method for arriving at poverty numbers in India.

    A relative term

    • If you think about it for a moment, poverty is a “relative” concept.
    • Poverty is essentially about how you are “relative” to those in your surroundings.
    • For example, with Rs 1,000 in your pocket, you may be “rich” if those around you have no more than Rs 100 with them.
    • But, in another setting, say around those who have no less than Rs 10,000 with them, you will come across as “poor”.
    • As such, as long as there are variations in the income and/or wealth levels in a society, there will be “poverty”.

    What is abject poverty?

    • Apart from the relative nature of poverty, there is such a thing as abject poverty.
    • It typically refers to a state where a person is unable to meet its most basic needs such as eating the minimum amount of food to stay alive.

    What is a Poverty Line?

    • From the point of view of policymaking, poverty levels typically refer to some level of income or expenditure below which one can reasonably argue that someone is poorer than the rest of the society.
    • The whole point of the bulk of policymaking is to improve the living standards of the poorest in the country.
    • But to design policies, one must first know what the target group is, how much does it earn (or spend, since robust data on income is not easily available).
    • This is done by choosing a “poverty line” — or a level of income or consumption expenditure that divides the population between the poor and non-poor.

    Why define a Poverty Line?

    The purpose behind choosing a poverty line is two-fold.

    (A) To accurately design policies for the poor

    • Doing so allows you to target your policies towards the two poorest people in the country.
    • Often such policies are redistributive in nature — such as giving subsidised food grains or providing some kind of social security like MGNREGA.
    • In an ideal world a government would have the resources to help everyone in the economy but in reality, even the government’s works within some financial or budgetary constraints.

    (B) To assess the success or failure of government policies over time

    • Over time the overall GDP doubles but the income of the general public falls.
    • Hence the government would know that its policies are not bearing fruit.

    Poverty Estimation in India

    • Planning Commission Expert Group (1962): It formulated the separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas at ₹20 and ₹25 per capita per year respectively.
    • VM Dandekar and N Rath (1971): They made the first systematic assessment, based on National Sample Survey (NSS) data. They suggested providing 2250 calories per day in both rural and urban areas.
    • YK Alagh Committee (1979): It constructed a poverty line for rural and urban areas on the basis of nutritional requirements and related consumption expenditure.
    • Lakdawala Committee (1993): It suggested that consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier. State specific poverty lines should be constructed. It asked for discontinuation of scaling of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics.
    • Tendulkar Committee (2009): The current official measures of poverty are based on the Tendulkar poverty line, fixed at daily expenditure of ₹27.2 in rural areas and ₹33.3 in urban areas is criticised by many for being too low.

    What has happened in India’s fight against poverty?

    • There are two ways to assess India’s performance.
    1. One is to look at the headcount ratio of poverty which is the percentage of India’s population that was designated to be below the poverty line
    2. The other variable to look at is the absolute number of poor people in the country
    • If one looks at the headcount ratio then India made rapid strides since 1973.
    • Even though India is home to possibly the largest number of poor people in the world, there has been no official update on India’s poverty levels since.

    Who oversees the Poverty Level?

    • Poverty levels are updated by using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which is conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) once every five years.
    • The last such survey was conducted in 2017-18.
    • That survey reportedly showed that for the first time in four decades consumer expenditure in India had fallen.

    What are the latest findings?

    • Poverty levels, as well as the absolute number of poor, had risen between 2011-12 and 2017-18.
    • The government claimed that the survey suffered from “data quality” issues.
    • The next round of the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) was supposed to be conducted in 2021.

    Causes of rise in Poverty

    • GDP growth decline: It is a fact that India’s GDP growth rate had registered a secular deceleration between the start of 2017 and 2020.
    • Jobless growth: The second and related factor is the unprecedented rise in joblessness.
    • Wages decline: Millions were pulled out of poverty between 2004 and 2011 due to sharp rise in non-farm employment and associated wages. But for many of those workers, real wages have either fallen or stagnated.
    • Pandemic impact: Covid induced lockdown sent millions of workers back to villages, seeking MGNREGA work at minimum wages.

     

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  • Turmeric Cultivation in India

    Turmeric (Curcuma longa), native to India, has been studied extensively for its effects against viral diseases in recent decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed interest.

    About Turmeric

    • Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is used as a condiment, dye, drug and cosmetic in addition to its use in religious ceremonies.
    • India is a leading producer and exporter of turmeric in the world.
    • The top five turmeric-producing states of India in 2020-21 are Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

    Climate and Soil

    • Turmeric can be grown in diverse tropical conditions from sea level to 1500 m above sea level.
    • It requires a temperature range of 20-35 C with an annual rainfall of 1500 mm or more, under rainfed or irrigated conditions.
    • Though it can be grown on different types of soils, it thrives best in well-drained sandy or clay loam soils with a pH range of 4.5-7.5 with good organic status.

    Varieties

    • A number of cultivars are available in the country and are known mostly by the name of locality where they are cultivated.
    • Some of the popular cultivars are Duggirala, Tekkurpet, Sugandham, Amalapuram, Erode local, Salem, Alleppey, Moovattupuzha and Lakdong.

    Preparation of land

    • The land is prepared with the receipt of early monsoon showers.
    • The soil is brought to a fine tilth by giving about four deep ploughings.
    • Planting is also done by forming ridges and furrows.

    Plantation

    • Whole or split mother and finger rhizomes are used for planting and well-developed healthy and disease-free rhizomes are to be selected.

    Why turmeric?

    • Post pandemic, turmeric is one of the fastest-growing dietary supplements.
    • The global curcumin market, valued at $58.4 million in 2019, is expected to witness a growth of 12.7 percent by 2027.
    • As the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of turmeric, India stands to gain from this.

    Global standing

    • India produces 78 per cent of the world’s turmeric.
    • The country’s turmeric production saw a near consistent growth since Independence till 2010-11 after which it started fluctuating.
    • The pandemic has given a boost to the crop, with the production witnessing a rise of 23 per cent.
    • Though the production and export of turmeric has risen, farmers have not benefitted from its pricing.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:

    With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements:

    1. A substantial saving in seed material is made when ‘bud chip settlings are raised in a nursery and transplanted in the main field.
    2. When direct planting of setts is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds.
    3. If bad weather conditions prevail when setts are directly planted, single-budded setts have better survival as compared to large setts.
    4. Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 4 only

    (d) 2,3 and 4 only

     

    Post your answers here.

     

     

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  • Sixth Mass Extinction?

    A paper published recently has come up with a new reason behind the first mass extinction, also known as the Late Ordovician mass extinction.

    Species Extinction

    • Extinction is a part of life, and animals and plants disappear all the time. About 98% of all the organisms that have ever existed on our planet are now extinct.
    • When a species goes extinct, its role in the ecosystem is usually filled by new species, or other existing ones.

    What is Mass Extinction?

    • Earth’s ‘normal’ extinction rate is often thought to be somewhere between 0.1 and 1 species per 10,000 species per 100 years.
    • This is known as the background rate of extinction.
    • A mass extinction event is when species vanish much faster than they are replaced.
    • This is usually defined as about 75% of the world’s species being lost in a ‘short’ amount of geological time – less than 2.8 million years.

    How many mass extinctions have there been?

    Five great mass extinctions have changed the face of life on Earth. We know what caused some of them, but others remain a mystery:

    [I] Ordovician-Silurian ME

    • It occurred 443 million years ago and wiped out approximately 85% of all species.
    • Scientists think it was caused by temperatures plummeting and huge glaciers forming, which caused sea levels to drop dramatically.
    • This was followed by a period of rapid warming. Many small marine creatures died out.

    [II] Devonian ME

    • It took place 374 million years ago and killed about three-quarters of the world’s species, most of which were marine invertebrates that lived at the bottom of the sea.
    • This was a period of many environmental changes, including global warming and cooling, a rise and fall of sea levels and a reduction in oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
    • We don’t know exactly what triggered the extinction event.

    [III] Permian ME

    • It happened 250 million years ago, was the largest and most devastating event of the five.
    • Also known as the Great Dying, it eradicated more than 95% of all species, including most of the vertebrates which had begun to evolve by this time.
    • Some scientists think Earth was hit by a large asteroid which filled the air with dust particles that blocked out the Sun and caused acid rain.
    • Others think there was a large volcanic explosion that increased carbon dioxide and made the oceans toxic.

    [IV] Triassic ME

    • It took place 200 million years ago, eliminating about 80% of Earth’s species, including many types of dinosaurs.
    • This was probably caused by colossal geological activity that increased carbon dioxide levels and global temperatures, as well as ocean acidification.

    [V] Cretaceous ME

    • It occurred 65 million years ago, killing 78% of all species, including the remaining non-avian dinosaurs.
    • This was most likely caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth in what is now Mexico, potentially compounded by ongoing flood volcanism in what is now India.

    What caused first ME?

    • The cooling climate likely changed the ocean circulation pattern.
    • This caused a disruption in the flow of oxygen-rich water from the shallow seas to deeper oceans, leading to a mass extinction of marine creatures.
    • Ordovician Sea has familiar groups like clams and snails and sponges.
    • Many other groups are now very reduced in diversity or entirely extinct like trilobites, brachiopods, and crinoids.

    The sixth mass extinction

    • We are currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction as the result of human-induced climate change.
    • There have been several theories behind each mass extinction and with advances in new technologies, researchers have been uncovering more intricate details about these events.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2018

    The term “sixth mass extinction/sixth extinction” is often mentioned in the news in the context of the discussion of:

     

    (a) Widespread monoculture Practices agriculture and large-scale commercial farming with indiscriminate use of chemicals in many parts of the world that may result in the loss of good native ecosystems.

    (b) Fears of a possible collision of a meteorite with the Earth in the near future in the manner it happened 65million years ago that caused the mass extinction of many species including those of dinosaurs.

    (c) Large scale cultivation of genetically modified crops in many parts of the world and promoting their cultivation in other Parts of the world may cause the disappearance of good native crop plants and the loss of food biodiversity.

    (d) Mankind’s over-exploitation/misuse of natural resources, fragmentation/loss, natural habitats, destruction of ecosystems, pollution and global climate change.

     

    Post your answers here.

     

     

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  • Principles of Responsible Banking (PRBs)

    Global banks are pledging to report annually on the carbon emissions linked to the projects they lend to in an extension to the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRBs).

    What are PRBs?

    • The PRBs are a unique framework for ensuring that signatory banks’ strategy and practice align with the vision society has set out for its future in the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement.
    • It was created in 2019 through a partnership between founding banks and the United Nations.
    • The framework consists of 6 Principles designed to bring purpose, vision and ambition to sustainable finance.
    • Signatory banks commit to embedding these 6 principles across all business areas, at the strategic, portfolio and transactional levels:

    Note: India’s YES BANK Limited is the only Indian signatory to this framework.

    Significance of the PRBs

    • Banks can contribute to solving the climate crisis from two angles: their lending and their investments.
    • Many bank policies concentrate their investments on securities that were focused on sustainability.

    Issues with PRB

    • Being a signatory to the PRBs is a limited commitment.
    • Signatories have four years to comply with the principles.
    • Even then, everything is voluntary and non-binding, so signatories are not penalized or even named and shamed for failing to live up to the principles.

    Way forward

    • When signatories to the PRBs are lending money, they are supposed to carry out environmental impact assessments and to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of projects.
    • This is not a minor issue considering that such work is beyond the traditional competencies of banks and will significantly affect their operational costs.
    • Signatories are also supposed to ensure that loans go to projects that are carbon neutral.

     

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  • 8th November 2021| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement(AWE)

    Topics for Today’s questions:

    GS-1    The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.

    GS-2    Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.

    GS-3    Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

    GS-4    Attitude: Content, Structure, Function; its Influence and Relation with Thought and Behaviour; Moral and Political Attitudes; Social Influence and Persuasion.

    Questions:

    Question 1)

     

    Q.1 Many voices had strengthened and enriched the nationalist movement during the Gandhian Phase. Elaborate. (15 Marks)

     

    Question 2)

    Q.2 The real choice for the world is not just navigating between China and the United States. It is fundamentally between an orientation that is committed to global problem-solving rather than just preserving national supremacy. Comment. (10 Marks)

    Question 3)

    Q.3 Assess the suitability of the current laws in India to deal with the challenge of climate change? Do you agree with the view that India needs a climate law? (10 Marks)

    Question 4)  

    Q.4 Our attitudes towards life, work, other people and society are generally shaped unconsciously by the family and the social surroundings in which we grow up. Some of these unconsciously acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the citizens of a modern democratic and egalitarian society. (a) Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians. (b) How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio-ethical values considered necessary in public services be cultivated in the aspiring and serving civil servants? (10 Marks)

     

    HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?

    1. Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.

    2. A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.

    3. You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.

    4.  Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.

    5. Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.

    6. If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th  October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis

    7. If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.

    8. We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. 

    For the philosophy of AWE and payment: 

    CLICK HERE To join Daily AWE

  • Q.4 Our attitudes towards life, work, other people and society are generally shaped unconsciously by the family and the social surroundings in which we grow up. Some of these unconsciously acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the citizens of a modern democratic and egalitarian society. (a) Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians. (b) How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio-ethical values considered necessary in public services be cultivated in the aspiring and serving civil servants? (10 Marks)

    Mentor’s Comments-

    • In first part, mention some undesirable values present in today’s Indians and how do they get shaped.
    • In second part, mention role of external factors in changing such undesirable attitudes.
    • Also mention some recommendations of 2nd ARC related to ethics in governance.

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