[Insights Secure – 2018] Daily UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice: 03 OCTOBER 2018
Click on EACH question to post/upload you answers.
How to Follow Secure Initiative?
How to Self-evaluate your answer?
LIST of TOPICS (Static)
General Studies – 1
Topic– Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,
Directive word
Discuss- this is 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.
Explain- Here we have to to make the topic clear or easy to understand by describing or giving information about it.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the mantle plumes- what they mean, how are they formed etc. We also have to describe in detail their relevance and importance for studying earth sciences.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about mantle plumes- e.g A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth’s mantle, first proposed by J. Tuzo Wilson in 1963.
Body-
- Discuss the meaning of mantle plumes in detail. E.g Convection in the mantle transports heat from the core to the Earth’s surface in thermal diapirs. Two largely independent convective processes occur in the mantle: the broad convective flow associated with plate tectonics, which is driven primarily by the sinking of cold plates of lithosphere back into the mantle asthenosphere, and mantle plumes, which carry heat upward in narrow, rising columns, driven by heat exchange across the core-mantle boundary. The latter type of convection is postulated to be independent of plate motions.A mantle plume is posited to exist where hot rock nucleates at the core-mantle boundary and rises through the Earth’s mantle becoming a diapir in the Earth’s crust. The currently active volcanic centers are known as hotspots. In particular, the concept that mantle plumes are fixed relative to one another, and anchored at the core-mantle boundary, would provide a natural explanation for the time-progressive chains of older volcanoes seen extending out from some such hot spots, such as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain.
- Discuss the relevance and importance of mental plumes in studying earth sciences. E.g The narrow vertical pipe, or conduit, postulated to connect the plume head to the core-mantle boundary, is viewed as providing a continuous supply of magma to a fixed location, often referred to as a “hotspot”. As the overlying tectonic plate (lithosphere) moves over this hotspot, the eruption of magma from the fixed conduit onto the surface is expected to form a chain of volcanoes that parallels plate motion. These mantle are often invoked as the cause of volcanic hotspots, such as Hawaii or Iceland, and large igneous provinces such as the Deccan and Siberian traps. Some such volcanic regions lie far from tectonic plate boundaries, while others represent unusually large-volume volcanism near plate boundaries or in large igneous provinces etc.
Make a rough diagram to illustrate your points in a better way.
Conclusion– sum up your discussion in a few lines and form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the above issue.
Topic – Part of static series under the heading – “Climatic anomalies Indian monsoons”
Key demand of the question
This question expects us to explain these climatic anomalies in brief and thereafter, explain their impact on Indian monsoons. You don’t need to go too deep into the explanations of these climatic phenomena, rather should focus on explaining their impact on Indian monsoons.
Structure of the answer
- Explain what ENSO is in brief – El Nino and La Nina together. Discuss its impact on Indian monsoons.
- Explain what Indian Ocean Dipole is and its impact on monsoons in India. Similarly for El Nino Modoki.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Why this question
Aadhar has important economic and privacy implications. The way Aadhar has been implemented creates significant scope for damaging the scope of welfare of the poor and the unprivileged, which needs to be discussed.
Directive word
Comment- here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an opinion as to whether the way Aadhar has been imposed, it inflicts heavy damage on the poor. We have to back our opinion on the issue with sufficient and proper arguments.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few introductory lines about the economic benefits of the Aadhar in terms of service delivery.
Body-
Discuss how Aadhar implementation creates scope for inflicting damage on the poor and the unprivileged. E.g When benefits are paid through Aadhaar-enabled means such as the Aadhaar Payments Bridge System (APBS), the first step is to seed the list of beneficiaries with the corresponding Aadhaar numbers; Seeding is a tedious operation and it has to be done each time a new scheme is inducted. Those who have failed to comply are simply removed from the lists. Poor people often find themselves deprived of their rights in the process; Whenever ABBA has been imposed in the PDS, large numbers of poor people have been deprived of their food rations. Meanwhile, evidence from Jharkhand suggests that ABBA is of little use in reducing PDS corruption. Nevertheless, the central government is determined to make ABBA compulsory for food rations, with cosmetic exemptions; Another source of confusion is the APBS’s “last Aadhaar-linked account” (LALA) rule, whereby Aadhaar becomes a financial address and money is automatically sent to a person’s LALA. This rule often sent people’s money to unwanted or unknown destinations, such as someone else’s account or an Airtel wallet etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
General Studies – 3
Topic– Indian economy: issues
Why this question
The article provides truckloads of data which can be utilized to embellish your answers of GS3. Moreover, it also touches upon a key issue which is the performance of exports. At a time, when India is facing a lot of macroeconomic issues, it is imperative to focus on exports which the FTP envisaged would be a key driver of India’s economic growth. Hence this question needs to be prepared.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to bring out the targets envisaged under FTP 2015-20, examine how far have we succeed in achieving those targets. Next, we need to bring out the performance of various sectors of exports in India and analyze, which sector would be most useful in boosting exports.
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 .
Discuss – Here in your discussion, you need to debate the pros and cons of various sectors and sub-sectors of economy and bring out which sector would be most productive for boosting our exports and improving our BoP.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Explain that India’s performance in exports has deceived expectations after a couple of years of good performance. At a time when fuel prices are seeing an exponential rise, exports needs to keep up.
Body
- Explain that FTP targeted a 3.5% share in world exports and a figure of 900bn$. Against that target, India registered just 10% growth in 2017-18, to $302.8 billion, against expectations of $325 billion, and also a 45% jump in trade deficit at $157 billion, the highest in last five years. As RBI data reveals, the country’s merchandise exports, having peaked at 17% of GDP in 2013-14, dropped to around 12% in 2016-17. India has underperformed even amidst robust global trade growth.
- Highlight the reasons why Indian exports is not picking up
- Discuss the various sectors which are major contributors to world exports such as energy and resource-intensive goods such as fuels and mining products, iron and steel, paper, etc, aggregating about 30% of total global exports; sunrise industrial goods largely in the electronics and telecom sectors, accounting for 25% ;automotive products, machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, etc, another 25%; agricultural products, 10%; (5) labour-intensive tradeables such as textiles, clothing, leather goods, and miscellaneous manufactures, another 10%. Examine how India’s performance is in these sectors and the scope of improvement
Conclusion – Give your view on what you think should be the focus area of Indian exports so as to keep BOP in check.
Topic -Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Why this question
With scaling up of renewable energy particularly with the increasing scope of Electric Vehicles, energy storage has become a critical component of India’s energy strategy. In this light the government has recently released a draft report on national energy storage mission. It is important to discuss the aims and the strategy of the draft report.
Directive word
Discuss- this is 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.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the national energy storage mission and write at length about its objectives and the strategy envisaged by the mission.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the national energy storage mission- e.g mention that MNRE has released a draft NESM with the objective to strive for leadership in energy storage sector by creating an enabling policy and regulatory framework that encourages manufacturing, deployment, innovation and further cost reduction.
Body-
- Discuss the NESM in detail. E.g Energy Storage is one of the most crucial & critical components of India’s energy infrastructure strategy and also for supporting India’s sustained thrust to renewables; The NESM draft document recognises that India lacks significant natural resources in terms of the materials commonly used in batteries. Due to its focus on mobility, the majority of discussion in the report centres around nickel-manganese-cobalt battery chemistries as these are the most commonly used energy storage devices in EVS.
- Discuss briefly the three-stage strategy envisaged by the NESM.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Topic– Science and Technology
Why this question
The article highlights the threat posed by this major issue, where now eradicated in the wild type 2 polio virus vaccines were bring manufactured by a company. By backlinkage, we need to understand the risks posed, the working of vaccines and the role of regulatory agencies in this regard.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to bring out an explanation for how IPV vaccine works. Thereafter, we need to explain why we are at risk by this happening, where type 2 polio virus vaccine was being administered. In the end, we need to explain what role the CDSCO is expected to play and how it can ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
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 – highlight the recent case to provide a context to your answer.
Body
- Explain how IPV vaccine works – IPV consists of inactivated (killed) poliovirus strains of all three poliovirus types. IPV is given by intramuscular or intradermal injection and needs to be administered by a trained health worker. IVP produces antibodies in the blood to all three types of poliovirus. In the event of infection, these antibodies prevent the spread of the virus to the central nervous system and protect against paralysis.
- Explain that in the present case the risk is that – The contamination can have very serious ramifications on public health because it is tantamount to reintroducing into the community a virus that had been eradicated as IPV induces very low levels of immunity in the intestine. As a result, when a person immunized with IPV is infected with wild poliovirus, the virus can still multiply inside the intestines and be shed in the faeces, risking continued circulation.
- Finally, explain what role does CDSCO play. Examine the role of CDSCO in this case and discuss measured through such incidents are not repeated
Conclusion – Give a brief overview of the threat that lies before us and how we can counter it.
General Studies – 4
Topic– Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance;
Directive word
Comment- here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to express our knowledge and understanding about the public service, how its rewards are intangible and why it should only attract those who get their kicks from making something work that the markets cannot or will not provide.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few introductory lines about public service or start your answer with a related quotation- e.g Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile- Einstein.
Body-
Discuss how the reward for public service is intangible in the sense that the pay is very low as compared to the private sector; the performance is not rewarded in the monetary terms like perks, bonuses etc. mention that as a public servant, that your reward comes from making public services more responsive and accountable to the public; Public service is at its worst when those who work in it – politicians and civil servants – start to redefine its objectives for personal and party gain, or in the interests of the provider and not the citizen etc.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
NOTE:
