SECURE SYNOPSIS: 19 MAY 2018
NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
General Studies – 1
TOPIC: The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors
/contributions from different parts of the country.
Key demand of the question
The question is fairly explicit in the sense that it requires us to bring out the reasons why RIN revolt was significant for the Indian freedom struggle. Other aspects that are to brought out are details of the RIN revolt, how force was used to control it and whether it was truly significant.
Directive word
Trace those reasons – The reasons for the significance of RIN revolt for the Indian freedom struggle is to be brought out. Thereafter our own view on the significance of the RIN revolt is solicited.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Briefly mention about the RIN revolt and was it was suppressed. Mention that for many scholars it was a turning point for the British decision to leave India.
Body – Bring out the reasons why RIN revolt was significant for the Indian freedom struggle.
Conclusion – After bringing out the reasons , mention your own view on how significant the RIN revolt was deciding the course of our freedom struggle.
Background:-
- The Royal Indian Navy mutiny was arguably the single most important event in convincing the British government that it could no longer hold on to India.
RIN revolt:-
- RIN revolt started on 18 February 1946 in Bombay.
- The naval ratings on HMIS Talwarprotested against the poor quality of food and racial discrimination by British officers.
- The demands advanced by the naval central strike committee combined service grievances with wider national concerns.
- The strike spread to other naval establishments around the country.
It has a special place:-
- Massive outpouring of public support for the mutineers.
- The RIN strike was a unique example of breaking down the wall of difference between army and people. The common people rendered all possible help to the striking ratings.
- Threatened British:-
- Indian sepoys had been the main instrument through which the British were able to maintain their hold on the Indian empire.
- Seeing that the nationalistic feelings had affected the army they were in serious doubt whether they could hold India any longer.
- The far-reaching and widespread impact of nationalism was made amply clear. In a way, it expedited the process of transfer of power, with the British understanding that the means through which they had India subjugated for close to two centuries, were now beyond their control..
- Unity:-
- The RIN Revolt showed that it was possible to unite the Hindus and Muslims in a struggle against the British.
- The RIN Revolt encouraged the soldiers in other branches of the British armed forces in India to express their dissatisfaction.
- The British were for the first time forced to adopt a conciliatory stance, and agreed to redress a number of grievances related to working conditions of the ratings.
- On February 19, the second day of this mutiny, Cabinet Missionwas sent to India.
- Despite huge support congress leaders did not support it.
Conclusion:-
- Despite severe crackdown and no mutual support from national leaders, naval mutiny of 1946 was indeed a watershed moment in the history of India’s freedom struggle.
Topic: Effects of globalization on Indian society
2) Discuss the impact of globalisation on Indian tribal communities.(250 words)
Analytical Study of the Impact of Globalization on Tribal
Communities in India with Reference To Economic Justice, All
Inclusive Growth and Social Transformation
Why this question
Globalization has had an important bearing on humanity cutting across all communities and social classes. The question is related to GS 1 syllabus under the following heading-
Effects of globalization on Indian society
Key demand of the question
The question wants us to discuss the effects of globalisation on Indian tribals- how their social, economic and political have been impacted.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– Mention the population of tribals in India and diverse socio-cultural settings in which they live.
Body– Discuss in points how globalization has affected them.
e.g the eroding resource base and socio-cultural heritage of tribal population through a combination of development interventions, commercial interest, and lack of effective legal protection; disruption of life and environment of tribal population owing to unimaginative, insensitive package of relief (Planning Commission, 1990), change in clothing and eating habits etc.
Conclusion- bring out a fair, balanced and concise opinion on the effect of globalisation on Indian tribals.
Background:-
- Tribal people constitute 8.6% of the nation’s total population, over 104 million people according to the 2011 census.
- The forest occupiers a central position in tribal culture and economy. The tribal way of life is very much dictated by the forest right from birth to death. Inspite of the protection given to the tribal population by the constitution of India, tribals still remain the most backward ethnic group in India. Globalization has various dimensions which sometimes affect tribal communities positively and sometimes negatively.
Impact:-
- Resource exploitation:-
- The policy of liberlization and the new state perceptions of utilization of resources are diametrically opposed to the adivasi worldview of resource exploitation and this divide has only widened further with the intrusion of globalization’s market oriented philosophy of development.
- The recent rapid technological advancement and unrivalled economic and political strength of world capitalism have created favourable conditions for the evasion and extraction of natural resources from the ecologically fragile territories of tribal people.
- All available laws those relating to lands, forests, minor forest produce, water resources, etc. restrain people from using forests.
- Primary resources such as fuel, fodder and minor forest produce which were available free to villagers are today either non-existent or have to be brought commercially.
- For the Tribals, globalization is associated with rising prices, loss of job security and lack of health care.
- Displacement:-
- Since the emergence of liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG), the areas inhabited by tribal population have been subject to various protests due to involuntary displacement.
- Thus, forced evictions of tribals make way for mammoth capital-intensive development projects have become a distressing routine and ever-increasing phenomenon.
- Vested interests:-
- In the name of upgradation of lifestyle of poor indigenous tribal people, the market forces have created wealth for their interests at the cost of livelihood and security of these tribes in the areas.
- Unemployment:-
- There is a heavy concentration of industrial and mining activities in the central belt. Despite intense industrial activity in the central Indian tribal belt, the tribal employment in modern enterprises is negligible.
- Apart from the provisions of Apprenticeship Act, there is no stipulation for private or joint sector enterprises to recruit certain percentage of dispossessed tribal workforce.
- They are forced onto the ever-expanding low paid, insecure, transient and destitute labour market.
- About 40 per cent of the tribals of central India supplement their income by participating in this distorted and over exploitative capitalist sector.
- Affecting social life:-
- Many more are slowly crushed into oblivion in their homeland or in urban slums. Their economic and cultural survival is at stake.
- The globalization behemoth has added new dimensions to the vulnerability of India’s downtrodden by exacerbating their social exclusion, and making large segments of tribal groups also vulnerable and excluded.
- Leading to subnational movements:-
- Inadequate social and economic infrastructure in areas that have insufficient resources for participation in mainstream development also has been at the root of various “sub-national movements” such as the Jharkhand, Uttarkhand and Bodoland.
- Tribal women:-
- Tribal forest economy is primarily a women’s economy, and it is women who are most directly affected by the corporate exploitation of their traditional lands.
- In poverty stricken tribal areas large scale migration has revealed the increasing movement of young women towards urban centers in search of work.
- Their living conditions are unhygienic, the salary is poor and tribal women are vulnerable to
exploitation by unscrupulous agents. - They have become the prime targets of sexual violation by managers, supervisors and even fellow male workers in the plantation industrial sectors.
- Construction sites, such as mines and quarries, and industrial complexes spelt doom for the local adivasi communities with the influx of immigrant labourers.
- Tribals are being forcefully integrated in to the society leading to them losing their unique cultural features and their habitat threatened.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
Why this question
President’s rule has been often applied in India , sometimes to fill the vacuum by a due constitutional process and sometimes unduly. Bommai case is one the historic cases in Indian history. The question is related to GS 2 syllabus under the following heading-
Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
Key demand of the question
The question wants us to simply discuss the verdict of Bommai case and what impact it had on Indian Polity.
Directive word
Discuss- we have to write in detail about the salient provisions of the judgement delivered in Bommai case, and then discuss the implications of Bommai judgement for Indian polity.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– give a brief context of the Bommai case. e.g article 356, Sarkaria Commission, frequent dismissals of state governments for political gains.
Body-
- Discuss in points about the principles laid down by the court before President’s rule can be invoked in any state on grounds of article 356. e.g majority to be tested on the floor, power of court to question the material behind satisfaction of the president, no dissolution till Parliamentary approval etc.
- Discuss in points the implications of the judgement. e.g laying of principles, reinstatement of governments suspended under article 356, power of judicial review over the matter etc.
Conclusion– Present a fair, balanced and concise opinion on the Bommai case and mention how it strengthened the federal structure and put a check on arbitrary dismissals.
Background:-
- Bommai case judgement is one of the landmark judgments given by the Supreme court with respect to centre state relations .
- The views expressed by the court in this case are similar to the concern showed by the Sarkaria Commission.
Verdict:-
- Supreme Court issued the historic order, which in a way put an end to the arbitrary dismissal of State governments under Article 356 by spelling out restrictions.
- Verdict concluded that the power of the President to dismiss a State government is not absolute.
- The verdict said the President should exercise the power only after his proclamation (imposing his/her rule) is approved by both Houses of Parliament. Till then the President can only suspend the Legislative Assembly by suspending the provisions of Constitution relating to the Legislative Assembly.
- The dissolution of Legislative Assembly is not a matter of course. It should be resorted to only where it is found necessary for achieving the purposes of the Proclamation.
- In case both Houses of Parliament disapprove or do not approve the Proclamation, the Proclamation lapses at the end of the two-month period. In such a case, the government which was dismissed revives.
- The Court made it amply clear that a Presidential Proclamation under Article 356 is is subject to judicial review.
- Article 356 could only be resorted to when there was a breakdown of constitutional machinery, as distinguished from an ordinary breakdown of law and order.
Implications:-
- This case put an end to the arbitrary dismissal of State governments by a hostile Central government.
- The verdict also categorically ruled that the floor of the Assembly is the only forum that should test the majority of the government of the day, and not the subjective opinion of the Governor.
- Whenever the case of a hung Assembly, and the subsequent exercise of government formation, came up, the Bommai case would be cited, making it one of the most quoted verdicts in the country’s political history.
- Its relevance to the current political scenario in Karnataka emerges from the court’s assertion that the only relevant forum to test the majority of the government of the day is on the floor of the house. The opinion of the Governor does not matter.
- Still, the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court strengthened the federal structure of Indian polity which had hitherto been damaged on several occasions particularly when different political parties were in power at the Centre and the State.
- Since the Bommai judgment of 1994 and Narayanan’s interventions of 1997 and 1998, instances of the wanton imposition of President’s rule dwindled considerably. Reinstatement of governments suspended under article 356 recently has been in Uttarakhand and arunachal pradesh.
- Criticism:-
- People criticized that the Court took such a long time to deliver the verdict and allowed, in the cases of Karnataka and Meghalaya, the illegality to be perpetuated and ultimately deprive the citizens of those states to be governed by their chosen representative.
- It was also criticized that the concept of secularism had been misinterpreted only regard to Hindu fundamentalism.
General Studies – 3
TOPIC: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.;Inclusive growth.
Why this question
Ease of doing business is an important parameter to gauge the openness of an economy and prospects of a business. India has significantly improved its ease of doing business rankings but there is still lot more to do. The issue is related to GS 3 syllabus under the following heading-
Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
Key demand of the question
the question simply wants us to discuss various initiatives taken by the government to improve the ease of doing business in India and what more could be done for the same.
Directive word
Discuss- we have to write in detail about the given issue- what steps have already been taken, and what more needs to be done.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– mention the present ranking of India in ease of doing business and mention the improvement.
Body–
- discuss in points what has already been done by the government. e.g SWIFT initiative, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy code, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) with the aim to attract investments from both domestic and international sources for infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, Foreign Investment Promotion Board etc.
- Discuss what more should be done by the government. e.g simplifying FDI policy and merger and acquisition policy, clearing the concept of control and economic ownership etc.
Conclusion- mention the importance of ease of doing business for entrepreneurs, businesses and development.
Background:-
- India has jumped 30 places to rank 100th in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business ranking,helped by a slew of reforms in taxation, licensing, investor protection and bankruptcy resolution
Steps taken by government:-
- The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) launched Customs Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT) for speedier clearance of inbound shipments.
- The clearance time of cargo will now be two to three days only.
- This will greatly reduce transaction costs for traders
- National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) :-
- NIIF was set up in December 2015 to catalyse funding into the country’s infrastructure sector.
- The platform will reduce the cost of moving cargo between port and origin and destination
- Goods and Services Tax is seen as one of the biggest reforms in India’s history aimed to make complex taxation system easier.
- IBC:
- The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, under which it has become easier to take necessary action against failed companies, has also improved India’s position in ease of doing business as it would lift the confidence of investors who now have a mechanism in place to recover their money.
- Simplification:
- The government introduced a lot of simplification measures aimed to attract more businesses in India. From reducing red-tapism to speeding up construction permits, the government has undertaken several changes to make it easier for global players to register and establish their businesses in India.
- Ease in the payment of taxes online, the possibility of submitting building plans in advance of applying for a construction permit, a new form for business incorporation that combines the permanent account number or PAN with the tax account number or TAN
- Reduction in the time required to complete provident fund and state insurance applications.
- Initiatives taken by Sebi in the area of “ease of doing” business include
- Rationalisation of knowing your customer (KYC) norms
- Increasing the number of arbitration centers and simplifying FPI (foreign portfolio investor) norms for investing in the debt market.
- Dealing with construction permits:
- India made obtaining a building permit faster by implementing an online single-window system for the approval of building plans.
- Getting credit:
- India has strengthened access to credit by amending the rules on the priority of secured creditors outside reorganisation proceedings and adopting a new insolvency and bankruptcy code.
- Trading across borders:
- India reduced border compliance time by improving infrastructure at the Nhava Sheva Port in Mumbai; export and import border compliance costs reduced in Delhi and Mumbai after removal of merchant overtime fees.
- Starting a business:
- India streamlined the business incorporation process by introducing the SPICe form.
- The government abolished the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
Concerns:-
- Foreign investors, Indian entrepreneurs and corporations still find themselves stuck in archaic laws and regulatory red tape.
- Clarity is lacking and piecemeal amendments made to laws haven’t helped.
- Major legislative reforms have taken place, led by the goods and services tax (GST) and the new insolvency law, but these, too, have struggled to make a difference due to problems in their implementation.
- Important concepts for Merger and acquisition deals remain shrouded in legalese-driven ambiguities. This pushes Indian entrepreneurs and companies back, despite India jumping 30 places last year in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings.
- As per the World Bank, the enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court (competent court), and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether the country has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. India ranks very low in this.
- India’s ranking in the ‘enforcement of contract’ component is 164 .The report says that it takes an average of 1,445 days (or nearly four years) to enforce a contract in India. In this, the distance to frontier (DTF) ranking score is 40.76. The all-told cost to a litigant to recover amounts legitimately due to him is 31% of the value of the claim.
- The judiciary in India is already plagued with pendency of cases and case disposal is slow due to multiple factors like:-
- More appeals
- Low judges to cases ratio
- Lack of modernisation of courts
Way forward:-
- Government is taking measures like Parliament even passed the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act.
- Labour laws should foster an enabling environment so far as employment practices are concerned.
- Faster reforms in the power sectors, facilitation of entry and exit of firms, level playing field for small and large firms, improvement in access to finance will lead to improvements in ease of doing business norms.
- To secure changes in the remaining areas will require not just new laws and online systems but deepening the ongoing investment in the capacity of states and their institutions to implement change and transform the framework of incentives and regulation facing the private sector. India’s focus on ‘doing business’ at the state level may well be the platform that sustains the country’s reform trajectory for the future.
- For attracting new investment, both foreign and domestic, several macroeconomic issues have to be addressed. These include political and economic stability, law and order maintenance, quality physical infrastructure, and buoyancy in financial markets.
Topic: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc, Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial
Why this question
SEZs are a crucial step for boosting exports, which has not succeeded in India to the extent it has in other countries like China. Through sagarmala the government has been trying to boost coastal infrastructure which can be taken advantage of by SEZs. Hence this question
Key demand of the question
Following points need to be brought out in this question
- The current state of SEZs in India.
- The reasons behind their under performance
- Comparison with the SEZs of other countries to see where we are going wrong
- How sagarmala initiative can boost performance
- Other overarching changes required
Directive word
Analyze – When asked to analyze, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When you are asked to analyze, you have to examine each part of the problem. It is a broader term than ‘Examine’.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Explain SEZs , their purpose and design in brief, also mention about how the government is trying to boost coastal infrastructure through SEZs and the opportunities it provides for SEZs
Body
- Briefly mention about the status quo of SEZs, how they are performing, also compare their performance with Chinese SEZs as the contrasts in their performance provides an opportunity to improve our SEZs
- Analyze the reasons behind their under performance under heads like policy issues, infra issues, etc. Analyze why SEZs in out neighbourhood are doing so well, whereas we aren’t
- Analyze how sagarmala initiative will help in addressing the shortcomings faced by SEZs in India
Conclusion – mention the importance of SEZs for Indian economy and how we should focus on reaping the benefits of sagarmala to improve SEZs
Background:-
- Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are geographically delineated ‘enclaves’ in which regulations and practices related to business and trade differ from the rest of the country and therefore all the units therein enjoy special privileges.
- The basic idea of SEZs emerges from the fact that, while it might be very difficult to dramatically improve infrastructure and business environment of the overall economy ‘overnight’, SEZs can be built in a much shorter time, and they can work as efficient enclaves to solve these problems.
- As of September 2017, 221 SEZs are in operation, and by January 2018, a massive 423 have received formal approval for operation.
Concerns with present SEZ :-
- International:-
- Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India have not been as successful as their counterparts in many other countries. Several Asian economies, particularly China, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore, have greatly benefitted from these zones.
- The vision of SEZ is lost:-
- Most of India’s new generation SEZs came up not for exporting, but for avoiding taxes.
- Large fiscal sops, in the form of a bunch of reliefs from central and state taxes, lured developers into building SEZs.
- For many SEZ developers, exports and employment were secondary to avoiding taxes.
- Lack of adequate connectivity :-
- Most manufacturing SEZs in India have performed below par due to their poor linkages with the rest of the economy.
- Weak connections of coastal SEZs with their hinterlands inhibited these zones from utilising their full potential.
- Regional imbalance:-
- The growth curve of SEZs had indicated a preference for urban agglomeration by industry, undermining the objective of promoting balanced regional development
- Narrow focus:-
- Another significant trend has been the preponderance of the IT/ITES industry.
- In India, 56.64 per cent of SEZs cater to the IT/ITES sector; only 9.6 per cent cater to the multi-product manufacturing sector.
- States did not match the central SEZ Act with State-level legislation, which rendered the single window system ineffective.
- Lack of a robust policy design, efficient implementation and effective monitoring have seriously jeopardised India’s effort to industrialise through SEZs.
- MAT:-
- In the original act, there is no MAT (minimum alternative tax).
- But the introduction of MAT in 2010 or 2011 has proved a dampener.
- Due to this companies are in favour of export-oriented nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.
- Acquiring large land parcels has become difficult due to the new land acquisition policy.
- Skill development is a big challenge.
How Sagarmala can lead to turn around of SEZ:-
- Sagarmala’s focus on back-end connectivity with the hinterland is what special economic zones desperately need.
- The few SEZs that have done well, such as the Sri City in Andhra, have benefitted from strong multi-modal connections they have with the hinterland. These connections are essential for lowering logistics costs and increasing export competitiveness. This can be achieved through linking SEZ with Sagarmala programme.
General Studies – 4
Topic: Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
6) Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people, we hate personally. Comment.(250 words)
Why this question
The question is related to GS 4 syllabus under the following heading-
Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
Key demand of the question
the question wants us to bring out a relationship between morality and attitude and discuss the worthiness of the given quotation.
Directive word
Comment- we have to brainstorm on the above issue and form our opinion on the above quotation. We have to justify our opinion with proper and valid arguments, facts, examples.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– give a brief definition of morality and attitude.
Body- Discuss how morality and attitude are related. Also discuss how morality can be changed by change in attitude. Give examples wherever necessary and take
help of the attached article to frame your answer.Conclusion– bring out a fair, balanced and concise conclusion based on the above discussion.
Answer:-
Morality and attitude both emanates from the core of human value system. While morality is the rightness or wrongness of an act derived from the conscience based on certain value system, attitude is mere objectification of our values in the form of belief, emotions and actions toward others.
An attitude is a person’s positive or negative evaluation of something, and that “something” can be anything from a person to an object to an abstract idea.
The person with a positive attitude toward law enforcement would be more likely to vote in favour law enforcement systems than a person with a negative attitude.
As an Individual people’s bond with other person depends on relationship, mutual respect and trust. This bond tends to dilute with any harsh effect on mentioned factors. Thus leading to tectonic shift from morality to attitude as person changed.
When someone people like behaves questionably, they mostly tend to attribute the problem to circumstances beyond the person’s control and give them the benefit of the doubt. But when people observe the same behaviour in someone they don’t like, they are often quick to pin everything on their poor character, on their moral failure, thus holding them to a standard people might not be so keen to enforce on an ally. There are so many instances where a family member has gone out of their way to shield a crime committed by a loved one.
This does not mean people do not apply morality to those they love. Parents, teachers teach children to imbibe moral values and be a responsible citizen. They punish immoral behaviour and reward good behaviour.
Thus, although it is true that human beings have a more understanding attitude towards people they like, it would be incorrect to assume that morality is applied only to those we dislike.
