SECURE SYNOPSIS: 09 FEBRUARY 2019
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– Effects of globalization on Indian society Social empowerment
Why this question
The article tries to provide a glimpse of the changes that Indian Family system has been quietly witnessing. It discusses how individual choices are gaining more voice at the cost of weathering of the patriarchy embedded in an Indian family system.
Directive word
Analyze-here we 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.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to dig deep into the modern Indian family and bring out how it has grown embrace individual choices and social realities. We have to analyse the present family structures and notions in India.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a introductory lines about the traditional Indian family system. E.g mention the patriarchal setup, joint family system, adherence to traditional social mores and choices.
Body-
Discuss in points as to how the modern family system in India has developed in India and how it has strengthened individual choices and changed the social realities. E.g
- The Indian family is changing. There’s no ‘ideal family’ defined by children or lineage.
- It comes in different shapes and sizes. And it has grown to embrace individual choices, and social realities: single children, divorce, double incomes, sexual freedom.
- The concept of ‘family’ has always been fluid, even in traditional set-ups, but today “the new generation is seeing much more of the world; they’re exposed to Western norms of individualism and autonomy.
- A family could now be the quasi-family where a group of people cohabit and share their lives and belong to each other in a fundamental way, but have no single figure of authority.
- Stigma against widow/ women remarriage is decreasing.
- Some of the changing perceptions are thanks to popular culture, movies, movie stars
- The change is however no revolution and it is still marginal etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background:-
- Due to economic liberalisation and globalisation, the world has become a “global village”. There is increasing interaction between people of different countries.
- The different aspects of globalisation like economic, political, social and cultural have important implications for human life, including the family life.
- In India, the traditional joint family system with features such as patriarchal in nature, members of family had no individual identity, the decision-making power lied exclusively with the eldest male member of the family etc underwent rapid changes due to
New family structures and notions in India :-
- Decline of Extended Family System:-
- There is a worldwide movement towards small, nuclear family maintaining a separate and independent household and breaking down of the traditional extended (joint) family system and other types of kin groups.
- Their influence is declining in every field of life. A modified extended family structure is emerging in which individual nuclear families retain considerable autonomy and yet maintain connections with other nuclear families or so-called ‘joint family’.
- Changing Authority Pattern :-
- There is a change in the division of labour and authority in the family. Male authority is declining in the modern family. The authority is slipping from the hands of family elders because of new economic and political opportunities.
- Young couples do not rely on family elders for job instructions or education of their children. Because of the dual-career marriages, there is a significant change in the attitude towards equality between married partners.
- Changing Status of Women :-
- The rights of women are becoming more recognized in respect to both initiation of marriage and decision-making in the family.
- Changing Economic Functions :-
- Modern family is no longer united by shared work on the farm. It is now a unit of consumption instead of a unit of production as it was in the agrarian society. It is now united by feelings of companionship, affection and recreation only.
- Decline in Family Size :-
- Economic considerations force the young to have smaller family with one or two children.
- Changing Attitudes towards Marriage:-
- There is an increase in male-female couples who choose to live together without marriage. This has given rise to the concepts of ‘living together,’ ‘living arrangements’ or ‘live-in relationships.
- Also new types of families crop with where same gender couples also cohabitate.
- There’s no ‘ideal family’ defined by children or lineage. It comes in different shapes and sizes. And it has grown to embrace individual choices, and social realities: single children, divorce, double incomes, sexual freedom.
- Declining Trend in Non-essential Functions:-
- The most of the socializing functions today, like child raising, education, occupational training, caring of elderly, etc., have been taken over by the outside agencies, such as creches, media, nursery schools, hospitals, occupational training centres, etc. These tasks were once exclusively performed by the family.
- Increasing mobility of younger generation in search of new employment and educational opportunities allegedly weakened the family relations. The family bondings and ties started loosening due to physical distance as it rendered impracticable for members of family to come together as often as earlier. This affected the earlier idealized nation of ‘family’ as the caring and nurturing unit for children, the sick and elderly.
- As a part of the revolution, the nuclear family emphasizes the importance of the freedom of the individual to choose his/her own life and control his/her own destiny.
- Accelerated rate of rural-urban migration, diversification of gainful economic activities and individual-friendly property laws, have had consequential impact in terms of drastic reduction in the size of family in the country.
- Discrimination against Widow remarriage is decreasing.
- Family is now essentially democratic and most of the decisions in the family are taken collectively. However, the extent of autonomy and democracy may vary from region to region, community to community and caste to caste, depending upon the degree of its adaptation of the modern values and the urban way of life.
- Marriage is considered not as a sacred one but a social contract. It has been found that, divorces and separation are on the increase.
- Much distress has been witnessed in the social relationships between husband and wife. No doubt, the technology has elevated the social status of women in the family. But at the same time it has put the fabric of social relationships at stake.
- Improved HDI as a result of globalization and urbanization. This has also led to better education, less social stratification among Indian caste system.
General Studies – 3
Topic -Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
Why this question
Air pollution is a serious issue in India and many of the world’s most polluted cities are from India. air pollution is not only a problem in Metropolitan or big cities but also in small cities, towns and even villages. in this context it is important to discuss whether there is any to develop an emission factor database relevant to local air pollution sources.
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 air pollution problem across India. it then what was to express our opinion as to why/ why not there is a need for India to develop its own emissions factor database relevant to local air pollution sources.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines highlighting India’s air pollution woes. E.g mention about the air pollution status of Indian cities at global level.
Body–
Discuss in points as to why there is a need for India to develop its own emissions factor database relevant to local air pollution sources. E.g
- NCAP sets a target of 20-30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 by 2024, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.
- To achieve such comprehensive actions for prevention, control, and abatement of air pollution, NCAP requires detailed knowledge of data, research findings and time-to-time policy impact analysis.
- However, currently available knowledge on the sources of air pollution is inadequate to inform such contributions, particularly at local scale, which is a crucial input for developing city-centric strategies.
- For better implementation of NCAP, there is a need for researchers and policymakers to access robust, open-source data.
- India needs to develop a platform for reliable and timely data sharing, to understand source contribution and evaluate policy impacts at local and regional scale.
- Emissions inventory, air pollution modelling, ambient air quality monitoring, chemical characterization of pollutants and source apportionment studies are some of the conventional measures to understand source contribution and evaluate policy impacts.
- Today, except for Delhi, most Indian cities and regions lack such measures. There is minimal knowledge available for rural areas etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background:-
- Air pollution levels in most of the Indian cities are far beyond the World Health Organization’s guidelines of 10 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3). In 2016, 18 of 25 most polluted cities in the world were in India.
Why India needs to develop its own emissions factor database relevant to local air pollution sources:-
- Local programs with local targets available:-
- NCAP sets a target of 20-30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 by 2024, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.
- For better implementation of NCAP, there is a need for researchers and policymakers to access robust, open-source data
- Contradictory reports:-
- In today’s scenario, newer studies are being released at regular intervals on various platforms, analysing and discussing source contribution towards air pollution in Indian cities.
- It is not unusual for these reports to contradict each other citing different data for the same location in almost similar timelines and drawing different inferences.
- Issues with the process of collecting data:-
- Many existing air pollution monitoring stations are under stress due to external issues in the process of collecting data.
- Gaps in input data and data access constraints to the scientific community are common, and could play a major role in delivering dissimilarities in studies.
- Local data is needed :-
- India needs to develop a platform for reliable and timely data sharing, to understand source contribution and evaluate policy impacts at local and regional scale.
- Indigenous data will give a wholesome and clearer picture of the menace of air pollution in India .
- IIT Kanpur study on pollution is an example of local data collection and research.
- There is minimal knowledge of source apportionment studies in Indian cities.
- Emissions inventory, air pollution modelling, ambient air quality monitoring, chemical characterization of pollutants and source apportionment studies are some of the conventional measures to understand source contribution and evaluate policy impacts. Today, except for Delhi, most Indian cities and regions lack such measures.
- No data on rural areas:-
- There is minimal knowledge available for rural areas.
- Majority of monitoring stations in India are in cities, and there is limited or no information available for rural areas. At the policy and scientific front, air pollution has so far been perceived as a problem of urban India and hence no rural-focused policy has been developed
- External data used :-
- Most of the activity-based emissions factor used by India is developed outside the country, which may give erroneous results.
- Also there is significant dependence on euro norms.
- Reliance on WHO data for Health effects and pollution monitoring.
- Activity based emission factors used by India are developed outside and not modified for Indian context.
Way forward:-
- Geographic locations, location-wise sources of pollution, dispersal of pollutants across regions and other factors should be considered. These steps will help build a systematic mitigation plan by setting up priorities at different scales and as per different regional requirements.
- More number of Data collection centers and, real time update of data is necessary
- The government needs to focus on collating a local and regional database for different sectoral activities (like vehicle kilometre travel, biomass use, industrial energy use) as primary inputs for developing an ‘emission inventory’.
General Studies – 4
Topic– Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics
3) What do you understand by Ethical intuitionism. Discuss.(250 words)
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 meaning of ethical intuitionism and write at length about the topic- it’s propositions, ideas, proponents, criticism etc.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– Write a few introductory lines about the Ethical Intuitionism. E.g The idea was popularised by American philosopher Michael Huemer in his 2005 book Ethical Intuitionism.
Body-
Discuss in points about the Ethical Intuitionism. E.g
- Also known as moral intuitionism, this refers to the philosophical belief that there are objective moral truths in life and that human beings can understand these truths intuitively.
- These are fundamental truths that can’t be broken down into parts or defined by reference to anything except other moral truths.
- Human beings can discover these truths by using their minds in a particular, intuitive way.
- What is right or wrong is considered by ethical intuitionists to be self-evident in nature and cannot be known through human experience.
- Intuitionism does not mean that all moral decisions are reached by relying on intuition.
- Intuition enables the discovery of the basic moral truths, and everyday moral decision-making then involves thinking about the choices available and making moral judgements in an ordinary sort of way.
- Critics of ethical intuitionism argue that people may come to different moral conclusions even after consulting their inner intuition.
- Others question whether people can arrive at moral conclusions at all using their intuition.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Ethical intuitionism:-
- Ethical Intuitionism was one of the dominant forces in British moral philosophy from the early 18thcentury till the 1930s. It fell into disrepute in the 1940s, but towards the end of the twentieth century Ethical Intuitionism began to re-emerge as a respectable moral theory.
- It is also known as moral intuitionism
- It refers to the philosophical belief that there are objective moral truths in life and that human beings can understand these truths intuitively. In other words, what is right or wrong is considered by ethical intuitionists to be self-evident in nature and cannot be known through human experience.
- The idea was popularised by American philosopher Michael Huemer in his 2005 book Ethical Intuitionism.
- Some philosophers claim that ethical pluralism (the view that there is an irreducible plurality of basic moral principles, and that there is no strict priority of any one principle over another) is an essential feature of intuitionist thought, but not all intuitionists are pluralists.
- Intuitionism does not mean that all moral decisions are reached by relying on intuition.
- Intuition enables the discovery of the basic moral truths, and everyday moral decision-making then involves thinking about the choices available and making moral judgements in an ordinary sort of way.
- Criticism:-
- Critics of ethical intuitionism argue that people may come to different moral conclusions even after consulting their inner intuition.
- Others question whether people can arrive at moral conclusions at all using their intuition.
Topic– Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
4) What do you understand by social intelligence. What are its key components. Discuss.(250 words)
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 words to write in detail about the meaning and scope of social intelligence. it also wants us to write in detail about the key components determine social intelligence.
Structure of the answer
Introduction- write a few introductory lines about the social intelligence. E.g social intelligence develops from experience with people and learning from success and failures in social settings. It is more commonly referred to as “tact,” “common sense,” or “street smarts.”
Body-
- Discuss about the concept of social intelligence in detail. E.g
- Social intelligence is more about the future. Social intelligence came about so that people could survive, and it’s about figuring out the best way for you to get along, and come out of a situation with a favorable outcome.
- Even if you have the qualifications on paper, a lack of social intelligence could lead to strained or ruined relationships, as well as lost opportunities etc.
- Discuss the key components of social intelligence. E.g
- “social expressiveness skills.”
- adept at learning how to play different social roles,
- excellent listeners.
- efficiently analyze what makes people tick by paying attention to what they’re saying and how they’re behaving etc.
conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Social intelligence:-
- Social intelligenceis the capacity to know oneself and to know others. Social intelligence is an aggregated measure of self- and social-awareness, evolved social beliefs and attitudes, and a capacity and appetite to manage complex social change.
Key components:-
- Verbal Fluency and Conversational Skills:-
- The highly socially intelligent person can carry on conversations with a wide variety of people, and is tactful and appropriate in what is said. Combined, these represent what are called “social expressiveness skills.
- Knowledge of Social Roles, Rules, and Scripts:-
- Socially intelligent individuals learn how to play various social roles. They are also well versed in the informal rules, or “norms,” that govern social interaction.
- Effective Listening Skills.Socially intelligent persons are great listeners.
- UnderstandingWhat Makes Other People Tick:-
- Great people watchers, individuals high in social intelligence attune themselves to what others are saying, and how they are behaving, in order to try to “read” what the other person is thinking or feeling.
- Role Playing and Social Efficacy:-
- The socially intelligent person knows how to play different social roles allowing him or her to feel comfortable with all types of people.
- Impression ManagementSkills:-
- Persons with SI are concerned with the impression they are making on others.
Topic- Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and 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 emotional intelligence and social intelligence. It wants us to express our opinion as to how social intelligence is about the future and emotional intelligence is about the present.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the emotional intelligence and social intelligence. E.g Give a simple and brief definition of both the terms.
Body-
- Discuss about the concept of emotional intelligence and how it is linked to the present. E.g
- emotional intelligence as “…the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.” Emotional intelligence contains three competencies:
- Emotional awareness
- Applying emotions to processes such as problem-solving and thinking
- Emotion management implied as both being able to help control other people’s’ feelings as well as your own.
- emotional intelligence is more about the present, and thus more closely related to emotions and feelings.
- By reading someone’s face, you can tell whether that person is happy, incredibly nervous before going into a job interview, or shy because that person happens to be in his or her own corner in the middle of a party.
- Discuss similarly about the concept of social intelligence and how it is linked to future.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Answer:-
Emotional Intelligence refers to the capacity for recognising one’s own feeling and those of others for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships. Emotional intelligence contains three competencies:
- Emotional awareness
- Applying emotions to processes such as problem-solving and thinking
- Emotion management implied as both being able to help control other peoples’ feelings as well as your own.
Emotional intelligence is more about the present, and thus more closely related to emotions and feelings. By reading someone’s face, you can tell whether that person is happy, incredibly nervous before going into a job interview, or shy because that person happens to be in his or her own corner in the middle of a party.
Social intelligence is the ability to understand and deal with other persons. Social intelligence is often more about the future. You are using the knowledge of the present to improve the future by finding the best pathway for you. Social intelligence is more about understanding the personalities and reactive behaviours of people to know how to best get along.
Social intelligence includes an awareness of situations and the social dynamics that govern them, and a knowledge of interaction styles and strategies that can help a person to achieve their objectives in dealing with others. It also involves a certain amount of self-insight and a consciousness of one’s own perceptions and reaction patterns.
Social intelligence came about so that people could survive, and it’s about figuring out the best way for you to get along, and come out of a situation with a favourable outcome. Even if you have the qualifications on paper, a lack of social intelligence could lead to strained or ruined relationships, as well as lost opportunities. As much as you would maybe like to be blunt with someone when giving feedback, you may try to edit your words to try to convey constructive criticism without putting your foot in your mouth.
So therefore EQ and SQ, combined with IQ, will be key to tap most strategic asset: human ingenuity.
Topic- Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
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 concept of emotional intelligence and how it can improve working of an organisation.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the concept of emotional intelligence. E.g give a simple definition of Emotional intelligence.
Body-
Discuss in points how emotional intelligence can help in better functioning of an organisation. E.g
- Recruitment. EQ measurement is invaluable in selecting and recruiting “desirable, high-performance workers”
- Predicting performance. Some companies are blending IQ testing with scientific measurement of EQ to predict job performance and direct workers to jobs where they are most likely to succeed
- Negotiation. Whether you’re dealing with a trading partner, competitor, customer or colleague, being able to empathize and be creative in finding win-win solutions will consistently pay off
- Performance management. 360-degree feedback is a common tool for assessing EQ. Knowing how your self-perception compares with others’ views about your performance provides focus for career development and positive behavioural changes
- Peer relationships. Good networking skills are a staple of job effectiveness for the average worker. Networking has too often been associated with “using” other people, but a heightened EQ ensures a mutually beneficial approach to others.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background:-
- Emotional intelligence describes an ability, capacity, skill, or self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.
- Like it’s counterpart IQ ,EQ can be tested ,measured and incorporated into the work place in productive ways.
Some of the reasons why emotional intelligence can be the key to workplace success:
- Emotional intelligence can lead to better business decisions
- Emotionally intelligent employees are more likely to keep their cool under pressure
- Those with high EQ are better at resolving conflicts
- Emotionally intelligent leaders tend to have greater empathy
- Employees with high EQs are more likely to listen, reflect, and respond to constructive criticism
- Embracing the nuances of human emotion in the workplace can have pragmatic benefits, such as better collaboration among employees and a happier workplace.
- Employees with higher scores on measures of EQ also tend to be rated higher on measures of interpersonal functioning, leadership abilities, and stress management. Other studies have linked higher emotional intelligence with better job satisfaction as well as overall job performance.
- Since modern organizations always look to improve performance, they recognize that objective, measurable benefits can be derived from higher emotional intelligence.
- When emotional intelligence is high, organization members can understand the cause and effect relationship between emotions and events and plan effectively
Examples of using emotional intelligence in organisations are :-
- Recruitment:-
- EQ measurement is invaluable in selecting and recruiting high performance workers.
- Predicting performance :-
- Some companies are blending IQ testing with scientific measurement of EQ to predict job performance and direct workers to jobs where they are most likely to succeed.
- Negotiation:-
- Whether you’re dealing with a trading partner, competitor, customer or colleague, being able to empathize and be creative in finding win-win solutions will consistently pay off
- Performance management:-
- 360-degree feedback is a common tool for assessing EQ. Knowing how your self-perception compares with others’ views about your performance provides focus for career development and positive behavioural changes
- Peer relationships:-
- Good networking skills are a staple of job effectiveness for the average worker. Networking has too often been associated with “using” other people, but a heightened EQ ensures a mutually beneficial approach to others.
Topic– Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.
7) What can be done to cultivate emotional intelligence in workplace. Discuss.(250 words)
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 how emotional intelligence can be cultivated and developed in a workplace. we have to be as descriptive and practical in our answer as possible.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the Emotional intelligence. E.g provide a brief definition of emotional intelligence and its importance.
Body-
Discuss in points as to how emotional intelligence can be cultivated at workplace. E.g
- The four phases correspond to those of the development process, viz., preparation, training, transfer and maintenance, and evaluation. Each is important.
- Assess the organization’s needs
- Assess the individual
- Deliver assessments with care
- Maximize learner choice
- Encourage people to participate
- Link learning goals to personal values
- Adjust expectations
- Gauge readiness;
Foster a positive relationship between the trainers and learners
- Make change self-directed
- Set clear goals
- Break goals into manageable steps
- Provide opportunities to practice
- Monitor performance and give feedback
- Rely on experiential methods etc.
- Encourage use of skills on the job
- Develop an organizational culture that supports learning
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background:-
- Emotional intelligence was ranked sixth in the World Economic Forum’s list of the top 10 skills that employees will need to possess to thrive in the workplace of the future.
- Emotional intelligence describes an ability, capacity, skill, or self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.
- Emotional intelligence may be the missing link that unites conventional “can do” ability determinants of job performance with “will do” dispositional determinants.
- The interest in emotional intelligence in the workplace stems from the widespread recognition that these abilities self-awareness, self-management, empathy and social skill separate the most successful workers and leaders from the average.
- This is especially true in roles like the professions and higher level executives, where everyone is about as smart as everyone else, and how people manage themselves and their relationships gives the best and edge.
How to inculcate emotional intelligence in workplace :-
- Modern organizations now offer learning and development that is explicitly labelled as “emotional intelligence” or “emotional competence” training.
- In support, their leaders create and manage a working environment of flexibility, responsibility, standards, rewards, clarity, and commitment.
- Implementing emotional intelligence training and overall culture in an organisation is done in four phases:
- Preparation:-
- Assessing the organization’s needs
- Assessing personal strengths and limitations
- Providing feedback with care
- Maximizing learner choice
- Encouraging participation
- Linking learning goalsto personal values
- Adjusting expectations
- Gauging readiness
- Training:-
:
- Once the organisation has plans in place, Phase Two is where it should start training. It should plan on:
- Fostering a positive relationship between the trainer and the learner
- Maximizing self-directed change
- Setting clear goal
- Breaking those goals into manageable steps
- Maximizing opportunities to practice emotional intelligence
- Providing frequent feedback on that practice
- Relying on experiential, hands-on methods
- Building in support for your staff
- Using models of desirable behaviour
- Enhancing insight into emotions and thought patterns
- Preventing relapse by preparing people for mental slips
- Transfer:-
- Phase Three is all about transferring and maintaining the skills learned. Make sure you build in opportunities for:
- Encouraging use of the skills learned on the job.
- Providing an organizational culture that supports learning.
- Evaluation
- Phase Three is all about transferring and maintaining the skills learned. Make sure you build in opportunities for:
- Finally, Phase Four is focused on evaluating the change that has come about from training. In this phase, the organisation should be:
- Conducting ongoing evaluation research.
