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General Studies – 1
Topic : The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country. Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.
Reference: shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
Why the question:
Question is premised on how Jawaharlal Nehru played an important role in achieving socialist India.
Key Demand of the question:
Explain in detail the role played by Jawaharlal Nehru in popularizing the vision of a socialist India both within the national movement and in the country at large.
Directive:
Illustrate – A similar instruction to ‘explain’ whereby you are asked to show the workings of something, making use of definite examples and statistics if appropriate to add weight to your explanation.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Explain the concept of socialism in short.
Body:
Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the capitalist development and worked for fundamental transformation of Indian society in a socialist direction. For him, socialism meant greater equality of opportunity, social justice, and more equitable distribution of higher incomes, ending of acute social disparities generated by feudalism and capitalism and application of scientific approach to the problems of society.
Explain how Nehru got inclined to the idea of socialism; discuss the methods and means by which he popularized the idea.
Conclusion:
Conclude with the importance of India adopting a socialist path of development under his leadership.
Topic : Social empowerment, Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The question is based on the elements that can contribute to release women from oppression, violence and powerlessness.
Key Demand of the question:
Explain the factors responsible for such conditions of women in the country; explain if economic upliftment can enable women empowerment and examine how far India has been successful in empowering women.
Directive:
Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Present a brief introduction about status of women.
Body:
There have been huge changes for women in terms of employment in the past decades, with women moving into paid employment outside the home in ways that their grandmothers and even their mothers could only dream of. Empowerment of women is perceived as equipping them to be economically independent, self-reliant, With positive esteem to enable them to face any situation and they should be able to participate in the development activities. Explain why economic independence is one of the most enabling elements for women. Present the case of India’s experience with women empowerment. Discuss the Remaining challenges.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
Reference: Indian Polity by Lakshmikant
Why the question:
The question is based on the theme of “opposition” in a democracy.
Key Demand of the question:
Explain the significance of coherent opposition in a democracy and discuss in what way the role of opposition can be made effective for better functioning of democracy.
Directive:
Analyze – When asked to analyse, 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.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Define what “opposition” means.
Body:
Discuss the role of opposition in a democracy. Explain that the opposition parties are those political parties that do not belong to the parliamentary majority or the government coalition and voice their disagreements and critical views concerning government action and are competing for legal accession to and the peaceful exercise of power. Opposition parties are Inseparable components of parliaments and they also function according to the rules of the game, reassuring the application of those checks and balances with their contribution to government policies and constructive criticism. Democracies become complete with opposition. Suggest key measures to strengthen democracy.
Conclusion:
Conclude with importance of opposition in a democracy.
General Studies – 3
Topic : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Reference: The Print
Why the question:
The article presents to us the alarming issue of plastic wastes amidst the pandemic.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss what Urban wastes are, what are the different steps involved in solid waste management in municipal areas and what the major problems are at the waste dumping sites of urban areas.
Directive:
Elaborate – Give a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by explaining some key facts like Urban wastes have come up as a major problem as around 62 million tonnes of wastes are generated in India on a monthly basis. Even New Delhi generates more than 100,000 tonnes of waste every day posing environmental and safety hazards.
Body:
Start by explaining different types of urban wastes; Municipal waste that includes household waste, commercial waste, and demolition waste, Hazardous waste that includes industrial waste, biomedical waste, radioactive waste, explosive waste, and electronic waste (e-waste) etc.
Then move on to explain different steps involved in solid waste management are. Discuss the components of composting, disposal, and waste-to-energy via incineration etc. in detail.
Thereafter explain major problems faced due to urban waste dumping sites in urban areas.
Conclusion:
Conclude with solutions to address such alarming concerns and problems.
Topic : Issues relating to poverty and hunger. Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Reference: Financial Express
Why the question:
The article talks about the importance of recognising the inequality of opportunities to the rural population of India. It discusses the issue of migration and explains few solutions that can change the scenario.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss in what way the rural-urban developmental imbalance reflects the inequality of opportunities.
Directive:
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
First explain what you understand by rural-urban developmental imbalance.
Body:
Discuss the problems of rural-urban migration; social – poor housing conditions and much higher crime rates. Economic – low wages or unemployment. Environmental – polluted drinking water and a lack of sanitation.
Discuss why the developmental imbalances are present? Explain the inequalities they lead to.
From the article take hints and factor in for solutions to address the problem of rural-urban developmental imbalance. One can give the example of COVID-19.
Conclusion:
Conclude with importance of recognising the inequalities and addressing them at the earliest.
Topic : role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges
Reference: The Hindu , Live Mint
Why the question:
The question is amidst rising incidences of fake news by India media.
Key Demand of the question:
Explain the issue with media, specifically the issue of misinformation; the factors responsible for it and discuss the concerns associated with social media gratification and suggest solutions to address the same.
Directive:
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:
One can introduce the answer by quoting a fact or two suggesting the context of the question. An MIT study has found social media’s built-in craving for likes is affecting our ability to objectively analyze the accuracy of online news before clicking ‘share’.
Body:
Start first by explaining what social media gratification and why it often leads to misinformation. Misinformation and disinformation spread in media is becoming a serious social challenge. It is leading to the poisonous atmosphere on the web and causing riots and lynchings on the road. In the age of the internet (WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter,) it is a serious problem as rumours, morphed images, click-baits, motivated stories, unverified information, planted stories for various interests spread easily among 35 crore internet users in India. There have been many instances of online rumours leading to killings of innocent people. In some cases, ministers have deleted tweets after realizing the fake news which they shared earlier. Discuss some of the popular examples in India. Hint at the laws that seek to address the issue, suggest solutions to overcome it.
Conclusion:
Conclude that countering content manipulation and fake news to restore faith in social media without undermining internet and media freedom will require public education, strengthening of regulations and effort of tech companies to make suitable algorithms for news curation.
General Studies – 4
Topic : Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of Family society and educational institutions in inculcating values.
Reference: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude by Lexicon Publications
Why the question:
The question is about Kantian principle of ends in ethics.
Key Demand of the question:
Explain the concept of Kant’s principle of ends in detail and suggest if the principle can be useful as a moral principle in everyday life.
Directive:
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
The philosopher Immanuel Kant said that rational human beings should be treated as an
End in themselves and not as a means to something else.
Body:
Discuss the concept in detail its significance. If a person is an end-in-themself it means their inherent value doesn’t depend on anything else – it doesn’t depend on whether the person is enjoying their life, or making other people’s lives better. To treat someone simply as a means, and not also as an end, is to treat the person in a way That undermines their power of making a rational choice themselves. It means, first, that we Should appeal to other people’s reason in discussing with them what to do, rather than Manipulate them in ways that they are unaware of. Coercing someone, lying to them, Stealing from them, all involve not allowing them to make an informed choice. If they are Involved in our action in any way, they need to be able to agree (or refuse) to adopt our end as their own.
Explain with suitable examples as to where all the philosophy can be applied suggest your opinion.
Conclusion:
Conclude with importance of the principle.
