Subject: Trivia

The IAS Mains 2015 General Studies Paper 1 is done with. Here are the 20 questions which formed the part of the 3 hour paper.

Instructions: Answer the following questions in not more than 200 words each. Contents of the answers are more important than their length. All questions carry equal marks.

Note: Each question carries 12.5 Marks (12.5×20 = 250 Marks ). All are compulsory.

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1. The ancient civilization in Indian sub continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without breakdown to the present day. Comment (12.5M)

2. Mesolithic rock cut architecture of India not only reflects the cultural life of the times but also a fine aesthetic sense comparable to modern painting. Critically evaluate this comment. (12.5M)

3. How difficult would have been the achievement of Indian independence without Mahatma Gandhi? Discuss. (12.5M)

4. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B R Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate. (12.5M)

5. It would have been difficult for the Constituent Assembly to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India in just three years, but its experience gained with the Government of India Act, 1935 .Discuss.(12.5M)

6. Why did the industrial revolution first occur in England? Discuss the quality of life of the people there during the industrialization. How does it compare with that in India at present times? (12.5M)

7. To what extend can Germany be held responsible for causing the two World Wars? Discuss critically. (12.5M)

8. Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity. (12.5M)

9. Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the mains cause of population increase in India. (12.5M)

10. How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes? (12.5M)

11. Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades. (12.5M)

12. Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India? (12.5M)

13. Debate the issue whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste. (12.5M)

14. Explain the factors responsible for the origin of ocean currents. How do they influence regional climates, fishing and navigation? (12.5M)

15. Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three Mega cities of the country but the air pollution is much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so? (12.5M)

16. India is well endowed with fresh water resources. Critically examine why it still suffers from water scarcity. (12.5M)

17. The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are reaching the limits of ecological carrying capacity due to tourism. Critically evaluate. (12.5M)

18. How far do you agree that the behaviour of the Indian monsoon has been changing due to humanizing landscape? Discuss. (12.5M)

19. Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart vilages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural urban integration. (12.5M)

20. What are the economic significances of discovery of oil in Arctic Sea and its possible environmental consequences? (12.5M)

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PS: To know the syllabus of GS Paper 1, click here to view our earlier post.

Instructions: Write two essays, choosing one from each of the following Section A & B, in about 1000-1200 words.

#1. Section ‘A’

1. Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole.
2. Quick but steady wins the race
3. Character of an institution is reflected in its leader.
4. Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil.

#2. Section ‘B’

1. Technology cannot replace manpower.
2. Crisis faced in India – moral or economic.
3. Dreams which should not let India sleep.
4. Can capitalism bring inclusive growth?

What should an average aspirant do with these 8 topics?

You read the 8 topics which formed the part of IAS Mains 2015 essay paper. Our best advice would be to try and look back on the events from late 2014 to mid 2015 and see how heavily these topics formed a part of daily news. If you can help find events, themes, newsbytes in the last year which can connect the dots on these topics, nothing like it!

Think in broad topics – political, economical, world etc. and try to drive home the different incidents and point of views and connect them with the essay theme at hand.

Update: Participate in the FREE Target Mains initiative going over at CD – Click Here

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Let’s take the case of a question on TAPI to see how one can approach answer writing.

#1. Discuss the strategic significance of the TAPI pipeline and the potential challenges faced by it.

TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline recently made headway and shall bring gas from the Galkynysh gas field at India’s doorsteps in Punjab.

The pipeline is not just a insurance against the energy challenges of the participant countries but reopening a historic route connecting South Asia to Central Asia. India shall find a particularly attractive proposition in the project given the proximity and abundance of Turkmenistan’s reserves.

The pipeline is expected to play a major role in securing India’s interest in Central Asia especially in the backdrop of the energy-guzzling China securing half of its energy needs from the region. TAPI might be a game changer for the geopolitical stability for the region ensuring that India, Pakistan and Afghanistan get more strategically fused.

However, the project might get encumbered with several challenges and needs to be insulated against the terrorism, securing it from Taliban across the Durand Line and from the militant groups in Pakistan.

The project’s success shall also depend upon the TAPI countries disallowing any bilateral disputes from holding the pipeline to ransom and burying the history of doubt and skepticism to enable it to emerge as the pivot of a connected, cooperative, peaceful and prosperous region.

Dissection:

Given above is just an outline for an answer where you know some facts and use some names-dropping to make a decent enough answer.

Facts like Galkynysh field, Durand Line, Chinese interest.

Name calling like geo-political stability, strategically fused, pivot.

Now let’s get some basic things right, now that we are set to write mains. Have it from me that there shall be many questions to which you shall only have a fleeting idea. And even in those questions where you have a fair idea of answers, it all gets messed up given the stress.

So, first thing first, yes you are going to write probably the toughest exam in the country but don’t let it get the better of you as it would get the worse out of you in the paper.

As I said before, before you start writing, pick up the central theme of the question and ensure you conjure up enough theme related words to be put in the answer. For example, a question on strategic importance shall appear empty without words like geo-politics. Little names-dropping you see.

Even though the paper setter might have used an acronym in the question, you must expand it when you use it first time in your answer. Later you can use the acronym. Also, when you use an acronym expand it first time, write the abridged form in bracket and then use it. Expand USA as United States of America when you use it first time.

In the examination hall, don’t look for the ‘best’ answer. There has never been and there shall never be one. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how well you used your information, how connected you remained to the question and, most importantly, how pleased the examiner was after reading your answer (because UPSC claims that they don’t give any model answers to the examiners. Sound a white lie to me).

Ok? So Best of Luck once again and do well.

Dunno if Delhi’s pollution will be controlled. But Delhi’s GDP is definitely set to go up as the Government will only allow even-and-odd numbered cars on alternate days. The multiplier effect will now explode, thereby creating jobs, employment, growth, and more number of cars for the Aam Admi, and a seriously good chance of getting re-elected for the Aam Admi Party. Ms. Sheila Dixit is ruing how she missed this bus, errrr, this passenger car.

Just look at the numbers. There are 260 lakh passenger cars registered in Delhi as of March 2015. In 2014-15, Delhiites added 1.8 lakh cars to their already enviable and unviable kitty. At least 15000 of these must have been bought by those on whom P. Chidambaram wistfully dreamt of levying the super rich tax. At least 3000 of these will now make a beeline to the nearest Audi/ BMW/ Mercedes-Benz showroom, trying to buy a car which hosts that super number so that one can manage to reach the workplace even at odd times. Another 2000 may settle for an odd City or even a Jetta. Car makers are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect.

Those not having the budgets or the parking spaces to buy a new car need not despair. A new range of services are being offered by roadside repair shops, which will now sell instant plate-change offerings. Due to heavy demand, the price of getting another number plate done has increased from Rs.1000 to Rs.5000. The casts and moulds industry is experiencing heavy demand to fabricate such insta-change car accessories.

Patanjali is thinking of seriously getting into the segment. The idea is that the one should be able to change the Patanjali number-plate in the 2 minutes in which the Patanjali noodles get cooked. Later, wash the hands with Patanjali soap and you are as good as new.

The demand for new cars and accessories will thus act as the ultimate growth driver, pushing Delhi’s growth rate to an unbelievable 20%. And that’s not all. For every new car manufactured, 7 more people get employed. All those poor crooks who used to surreptitiously paint cars and number plates after robberies will now get to legitimize their skilful profiles. Such a surge in employment was not seen in Delhi even during the good old days of the Commonwealth Games.

In all the merriment that ensued in the corridors after such cheerful thoughts, there came a more sobering, practical problem. How in the world will the Delhi Police, who stand steadfast in their duty at the traffic signal, read the number plates of those cars that zip through happily at 95 kmph? Visibility tests startlingly revealed that one can only read the numbers if the car passes at a more sedate pace of 25 kmph. Hence, in addition to the earlier even and odd guideline, the Delhi Government is now in the process of issuing a speed limit guideline as well. The number of cars will be halved and the time taken to office will be doubled.

Schools are thrilled to bits with the new pedagogy with which to make Maths more interesting. They have appealed to the Delhi Government to also have days when only composite or prime numbers will be allowed. One school has raised an RTI against the RTO demanding an explanation as to why number plates cannot be issued in all rational numbers on the number line and why only positive integers have been allowed so far. A case for fractions is also being fought. A divisive number game on irrational traffic integration. It’s the limit!

You must have had practised writing enough, must be trying to locate your centre and might be a little nervous as well. It is ok! After all you are about to get into the battleground of probably the toughest examination in the country. Do not let the nervousness overwhelm you. 

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Thy who lost sweat practicing, shall lose no blood!

You must have read a plethora of tips about how to writing answers, I thought of sharing few from our side. Here are quick 19 on answer writing for IAS Mains:

1. Write in simple, grammatically correct English. No literary prose is needed.

2. Try to give the context of the answer if you can in your opening remarks. End it with a something concrete and do not leave it hanging in air with an abrupt end which mostly happens due to paucity of time.

3. Write in points or paragraphs as you feel comfortable. There is just no restriction or stated rule for or against any of these ways of answering.

4. The thoughts should flow across the answer seamlessly with no hopping from one idea to another but in a systematic manner.

5. Try that you don’t leave any question unattempted as it forecloses any chance of getting any mark even if the examiner was in a jubilant mood. But that does not mean you should write just about anything. Just think of one-two relevant point and write it.

6. Come over this ‘Should ‘black’ or ‘blue’ pen be used?’. Use whichever of them you are carrying.

7. Avoid cuttings and over-writing (that college tactic to write an alphabet such that it can be interpreted as a ‘b’ or ‘d’  shall not work in UPSC). College examiners could be approached to make them interpret the word as we wanted them to interpret. No such liberty is available in UPSC.

8. In case you want to underline certain sentences, do it there and then. If you leave it for the fag end, it shall entail reading the answer all over again and you really might not be able to finish reading them all.

9. Do not write in the margins as is also instructed by the UPSC. And these fellows do take their instructions seriously. In any case if you had something really good to write you would have written it in the main portion. Anything written in margins shall only be superfluous in most cases.

10. Avoid using red ink for writing or underlining.

11.  When you use diagrams/maps, give them a title, give them a number like fig1. or fig2. and give their reference at the relevant point in your answer.

12. Do not actually sit down to count words. Those who have been practicing answer writing shall have a fair idea of how many of their sentences/paragraphs make up 150-200 words. (Another benefit of answer writing). And this is how even the examiners will guess the number of words in your answer if they must. They shall never actually count them. (And of course you must also remember that content matters more than the length)

13. Some of us have this tendency that as we write on un-ruled sheets, our sentences tend to get tilted in a particular direction. It is annoying for the examiner to tilt his/her head at odd angles to read what you might have written. So avoid it.

14. Ensure your hand-writing is legible. If it is illegible, who can stop the examiner from just marking it with a zero or one or two and move on. No one is going to question him/her. So why give him/her this chance?

15. UPSC instructs that unwritten pages should be crossed. Please do it with a small diagonal line across the page. Avoid a big cross cutting across the length and breadth of the page which might also leave a mark on the back page.

16. When you are done with an answer, draw a small horizontal line telling the examiner it is over.

17. Keep the booklet neat. You must have noticed that sometimes, when we write, our palm rests on the sheet. Ensure it is free of any ink marks (or is sweaty) which may leave smudges on the answer sheet.

18. Keep the water bottle that you may carry on the ground near your seat. I have heard cases where the bottle was kept on the table itself loosely capped in a hurry and an inadvertent push by an invigilator or a fellow candidate had the candidate’s hard work floating in water.

19. Carry enough number of pens/pencils and other stationery. And do carry a stencil of the geometrical figures.

And finally, 

Wish you lots of writing and lots of answers that you have already prepared!

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Want to read more?

• IAS Mains answer writing – Explained via a model answer
• IAS Mains 2015 GS Paper Analysis: The Ringside View
• IAS Mains Writing Essentials – Reading and answering a question as it should be!
• IAS Mains Writing Essentials – Reading and answering a question | Part 2

Here is a set of 21 probable questions forward by Mitra’s IAS – Leading coaching academy for Philosophy and Ethics.

For those appearing for IAS Mains 2015, give this a last minute look. For those preparing at leisure, see if these concepts strike as common sense to you.

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Attempt the following

1. Today , building trust in government is a worldwide concern.
2. Develop your own set of core values. Would these provide you with guidance or be a straightjacket on decisions you have to make ? Why ?

3. What is the difference between responsibility and obligation ? Give example where you have experienced the tension between the two ?

4. What is difference between obedience and loyalty ? Are both always virtues ?

5. The “many hands” problem in public offices often makes it difficult to pin point responsibility.

6. Draw on your experience or otherwise of how organizational culture shapes individual behavior.

7. People often argue that it is wrong to use immoral means to serve moral ends. Describe a situation that you experienced or imagine in which immoral means are used to achieve a moral purpose.

8. Free rider issues often confront public managers. Discuss two examples of free rider problems.

9. Why does corruption captures the headlines when it is often the same old story with different actors?

10. Why is leadership so important to developing and maintaining an ethical organizational culture ?

11. “History of mankind is actually history of values.” Critically examine with suitable illustrations.

12. Define by giving suitable examples
I. Ethical competency
II. Ethical illiteracy
III. Work is worship
IV. Inculcation of values
V. Dignity
VI. Intellectual Integrity

13.Knowledge without character is a deadly sin.

14. Is it ethical for a public employee to market the job knowledge and skills he has acquired while on a public payroll?

15. It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it .

16. When employees own the culture of their workplace – when they feel responsible for “how things work around here” – they won’t permit wrongdoing.

17. As we practice resolving ethical dilemmas we find ethics to be less than a goal than a pathway , less a destination than a trip , less an inoculation than a process.

18. How emotional competency and attitude helps in taking ethical decision?

19. Narrate one incident in your life when you had displayed leadership quality but you were sufferer and at the same time severely condemned . Also enumerate lessons learnt.

20. Suggest certain measures to encourage ethical behavior at your workplace. What could be challenges and how you would tackle them?

21. Is there any difference between practical solution and ethical solution ? Substantiate with suitable examples .

 

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Prelims has a fair number of questions from Geography and fair number of them are actually based upon the map reading by the candidates. Geography Mains Paper II has 10 map based entries carrying a weight of twenty marks (as in the last paper).

So let us see how we can attempt Map Based Questions in IAS Prelims and Mains.

For Geography Optional:

The weightage carried by map based question has been reduced from 60 to 20 as in the last year’s paper. Twenty is good enough score to be ignored and even more for the claim that getting these entries right enthrals the examiner and weighs heavily in getting good score in Paper II and a poor attempt in the map entries has opposite effect on the examiner and consequently your score in the paper (though the claim still remains to be verified by any UPSC examiner or UPSC itself). So let us see what the trend is and how we can make the best out of it.

#1. In the last two years, the entries asked have been the ones that are not unheard of (who can forget the yesteryear’s Akrimota, Pirotan, Meghnagar,Van Tivu which had candidates literally in tears in that year). Luckily now, the entries can be easily located in the Atlas and a geography candidate would have definitely prepared about 8 out of them. So, do prepare all the prominent entries in the Atlas well in advance.

#2. Many of the entries are picked from the places that repeatedly appear in current affairs but for some unknown reason are still ignored by the candidates. Make a note of all such recurring places, locate them and prepare the write-up. While locating such entries scanning its neighbourhood shall not be a bad idea either and is recommended.

#3. Do have a outline map of India and practice and make small write-ups behind it itself. Helps in quick revision and breaks the monotony of referring to the Atlas.

#4. If you are not sure of an entry take a calculated risk and at least mark it in the right state if you must. Nellore marked in Tamil Nadu can sometimes infuriate sensitive examiners. That is to say don’t take wild risks.

#5. Don’t ignore the question to be attempted in the last 15 minutes which appears to be the general tendency among the candidates. In the last minutes you shall be too tensed to might just mark them wrong and then waste time in erasing and cutting. Treat the question on par with other question.

#6. If you do not know most of the entries (something I do not foresee going by the latest trend but for an examiner fired with strong wanderlust who decides to ask unheard of entries. In that case God Bless Us!)

For Prelims:

#1. What has been mentioned about the entries in the current affairs remains true here as well, in fact even more so in Prelims. So do locate them in the Atlas.

#2. Whenever you are bored with reading heavy stuff, try map reading. Many claim it is rejuvenating and that is not without truth.

#3. The questions asked in Prelims like arranging cities or rivers or hills or the likes in a particular order are designed in a way that the entries asked are at enough distance physically that the candidates can use elimination method or even their cursory reading of Atlas to zero in on the right answer.

#4.  If you have no idea about an entry, do not attempt it. More often than not it shall be a trap question. In 2009, a deceptively innocuous question on the country of location of Barail Range was asked and I still admire the examiner who had enough candidates waylaid into marking alternatives other than India.

#5. When you are dealing with map based questions and have enough time at disposal (which might be a rarity) and want to take a calculated risk then try to picture each entry separately in the Atlas and use elimination method.

#6. Do cover all the prominent entries from every continent. It is an easy attempt.

#7. When you locate a current entry in the Atlas, also notice the neighbourhood, for the neighbourhood is more enticing for few. For example, the examiner may not ask about the country the Sinai Peninsula is part of but the water bodies between which it is located.

#8. It might sound cliché now but is the most important instruction and that is, ‘Please do what you have just read in the above points!’

Happy Mapping!    

Note – CD is experimenting with user generated content that can help initiate a discussion at large. Should you wish to write on our platform, read the footnote in the bottom.

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So… India is now intolerant?

For millennia, India has faced several invasions from outside, many of them even massacred thousands. But, people of India adjusted to them and accepted them.Now, don’t go so back in history, just see after independence. Remember Sikh Massacre after Indira Gandhi assassination(1984)? Gujarat riots(2002), Muzzafarpur riots(2013), few days back here in Phulwari Sarif, Patna(2015), curfew was imposed.

Well, if you don’t know, let me tell you…As per the Indian constitution, public order and police are state subjects as enumerated in the state list of 7th schedule. That means state has the responsibility for maintaining public order. However, state has responsibility,but for this non sense killing/rioting a government cannot be held responsible. It is the people, illiterate people, whose religiosity is more than required. It is these people who are ready to kill anyone on the name of saving GOD. Also, in my opinion, hatred towards a ‘particular’ community is a result of terrorism. This intolerance in India can be attributed to these terrorist acts and terrorism. They contribute and make people more intolerant towards others.Intolerance is growing all over the world, not just in India as you may see 13 out of 50 states of USA are now not ready to accept even one refugee from Syria and Iraq after Paris attacks. Even earlier Germany and Hungary closed their border for refugees. Anti-muslim protest can be seen in Paris and other part of the world.

As fas as India is concerned, I cannot see any civil war going out here. People are living in peace. However, as already stated some people initiate communal riot and these illiterates will continue to do so. That doesn’t mean we should blame someone else for the act of these rascals.Now, as Amir Khan said his wife asked her that she want to leave India. I want to say one thing. Under article 21 of the Indian constitution, every Indian has a right to leave country. And this is a fundamental right, who are we to stop anyone?India is tolerant, however, this situation is somewhat created to destabilize the government and the country and to show to the world that India is intolerant and not invest here and to hamper its economic growth.Also, communal riot is not new in india.

It’s happening for more than a century. There was days when Hindu and Muslims lived in peace and communal riot was unknown in India as Hindu and muslim both fought soldier to soldier in 1857 mutiny. This communal problem is a result of historic process and british policy of divide and rule. As you may already know British gave active support to Muslim communalism and little support to Hindu communalism as no one can please both communalism at same time. This communalism resulted in partition of this country in 1947. This policy of divide and rule is well adopted by some Indians who use this for their own benefit.

Even doctored video and images are circulated to fan communal violence. All thanks to social media! Also, some communal news channels are always ready to propagate their agenda. Don’t fall prey to these communal people and stay away from any violence. Now, you decide yourself, India is tolerant or not.

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