[Insights Secure – 2018] Daily UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice: 25 JULY 2018
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LIST of TOPICS (Static)
General Studies – 1
Topic– Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
Why this question
Gender inequality is an important issue and it is important to know how this issue came to be recognized in Indian society and what responses it generated from the society.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the issue of gender inequality in India and when and how it came to be recognized as inequality at the level of masses.
Key demand of the question
The question wants us to write in detail about the existence of gender inequality in India and write about when and how it came to be publicly recognized as an inequality. It also wants us to write in detail about the kind of response it generated then.
Directive word
Discuss- This s an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. We also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Write a few lines about the gender inequality historically prevalent in Indian subcontinent- like Sati system, Purdah system, illiteracy, lack of access to power and several religious aspects etc.
Body-
- Mention that the women’s question arose in modern India as part of the nineteenth century middle class social reform movements and discuss the salient characteristics of these movements- e.g dominated by middle-class, western educated indians; inspired by democratic and humanistic ideals of the west as well as pride in indigenous traditions and culture; etc. Mention the name of the pioneers who fought for women equality and briefly discuss their contributions. E.g Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Jyotiba Phule; M.G. Ranade etc.
- Discuss the kind of responses it generated. E.g various socio-religious reform movements; intellectual debate like M.G. Ranade’s writings entitled the The Texts of the Hindu Law on the Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows and Vedic Authorities for Widow Marriage etc. mention the role of women like Tarabai Shinde, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain etc.
Conclusion- sum up your discussion in a few lines and form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the above issue.
General Studies – 2
Topic– Part of static series under the heading – “centre state executive relations”
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to mention in brief about FC and iSC, the nature of centre state executive relations and how SC and ISC prove helpful in this regard.
Directive word
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Mention that India is a federal country and several scholars add a unitary bias to the description. Managing centre state administrative relations has been a source of contention , and ISC and FC play a key role in this regard
Body
- Explain briefly about the constitutional provisions related to centre state administrative relations, ISC and FC.
- Discuss the pros and cons of how FC has impacted CS administrative relations and similarly for ISC as well.
- Highlight the recommendations and observations of several committees formed in this regard, and how the focus on ISC as a forum to iron out issues and discuss opportunities has been regularly suggested.
Conclusion – Summarize arguments made above and give way forward.
Topic – Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
3) Examine the opportunities and threats in India’s maritime partnership with ASEAN?(250 words)
Why this question
China’s enhancement of its naval power, and its growing strategic presence in Indian ocean has led India to out special emphasis on maritime partnership with littoral countries of Indian ocean. ASEAN plays a key role in that partnership and this question wishes to explore this aspect.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to examine the overall nature of India’s maritime cooperation with ASEAN with special emphasis on the opportunities in this area which can enhance the nature of this relationship. Also, we need to discuss the threats and ways to counter that threat.
Directive word
Examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Discuss the emphasis India has put on maritime cooperation with nations both at a bilateral level and through forums like IORA etc.
Body
- Give an overall picture of India’s strategic partnership with ASEAN, Act East Policy and what exactly is the nature of this partnership. Also discuss how this is a focus area for India in light of SAGAR.
- Discuss the opportunities like common objectives of support for free, open and rules based Indo Pacific, threat of a hegemon, good economic relations, institutional mechanism – ADMM+, IORA, naval exercises etc
- Discuss the threats like rise of China, lack of consensus amongst ASEAN etc
- Discuss how such challenges can be countered
Conclusion – Discuss the importance of growing this partnership and the way forward.
Topic-Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Why this question
Corruption in India is a fact of life. We witness it in our everyday lives and there is a dire need to reduce corruption in indian society. Therefore it is important to discuss the desirability and effectiveness of any such attempt made in this direction.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to dig deep into the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill and bring out whether it will instead of punishing corrupt officials let them get away with corruption.
Directive word
Comment- here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon. Our opinion is to be based on a discussion which elucidates our arguments/ facts/ examples in its support.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- Write a few lines about the gravity and pervasiveness of corruption in Indian society- present a few statistics like our ranking in transparency international index etc.
Body-
- Discuss the salient provisions of the given bill and how they will affect the level of corruption. E.g bribe giver to be similarly placed and penalized as a bribe receiver- which will decrease reporting of corruption related cases and unnecessarily punish the victims of coercive corruption; extending the immunity of arrest to officers below that of Joint Secretary- which will extend the blanket immunity to bureaucrats; etc.
- Discuss how the bill is insufficient in dealing with corruption. E.g no special courts allocated; corruption and lack of transparency in election funding not addressed; no difference between collusive and coercive corruption etc.
Conclusion– Express your opinion as to what should be done in this regard- e.g bring out the role of technology and need to adopt best practices from other countries, empowering people and local government etc.
Topic – Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Why this question
With PM Modi’s 3 nation Africa tour on the anvil, India Africa relations is going to dominate news . this makes it important for us to delve deeper into the relationship, understand challenges and discuss way forward.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to mention what is it about Africa that is attracting several countries who are competing for enhancing their presence in Africa. Thereafter analyze India’s economic, cultural etc relations with Africa and analyze why China among other countries is a major competitor for India in deepening ties with Africa.
Directive word
Examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Mention about a brief history of the upswing in relations between India and Africa with growth of India Africa Forum Summit etc.
Body
- Discuss why Africa is at a critical juncture – economic growth, resources, several African countries have been providing incentives to attract foreign investors and partners in growth etc
- Discuss how India’s relations with Africa are – the nature and extent of partnerships along with areas where India can leverage it’s commonalities to create a symbiotic relationship.
- Examine the reasons why China is posing a challenge to India and how could India counter this challenge
Conclusion – emphasize on the importance of this partnership and the way forward for India.
General Studies – 4
Topic– Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to to simply describe the meaning and the salient aspects of logical positivism. It also wants us to write in detail about its association with the ethics- how it describes and understands the ethics.
Directive word
Discuss- This s an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few lines about logical positivism- its birth as a philosophy, its other names, Its primary concern and key proponents like Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap etc.
Body-
- Discuss the doctrine of logical positivism in detail. E.g it developed out of Positivism and the early Analytic Philosophy movement, and which campaigned for a systematic reduction of all human knowledge to logical and scientific foundations. Thus, a statement is meaningful only if it is either purely formal (essentially, mathematics and logic) or capable of empirical verification; it denied the soundness of metaphysics and traditional philosophy; it asserted that many philosophical problems are indeed meaningless etc.
- Discuss how the doctrine viewed and understood the ethics as a philosophy. E.g According to logical positivism, there are only two sources of knowledge: logical reasoning and empirical experience. The former is analytic a priori, while the latter is synthetic a posteriori; hence synthetic a priori knowledge does not exist; It argued that ethical principles are neither true nor false – they are expressions of feeling. Therefore a theory of ethics is impossible etc.
Conclusion- Based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Topic– Ethics and Human Interface
Why this question
Mesut Ozil’s retirement again brings to the forefront the simmering racial tension in European societies. Racial discrimination has dominated news headlines off late and is an issue that merits discussion from GS4 point of view.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to analyze news of racial profiling and discrimination, issues related to immigration, the inevitability of multi racial societies etc for the first part of your answer. In the second part we need to discuss how can the attitude of people be made to change.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Mention some incidents of racial profiling and discrimination from around the world to emphasize the magnitude of the problem.
Body
- Discuss status quo. Mention why such incidents are increasing. Discuss from economic, cultural, political, ethical etc point of views.
- Examine the morality and ethics of such discrimination
- Mention how can the attitude of people towards other races be changed
Body – Discuss the severity of the issue and the way forward.
NOTE:
