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
General Studies – 1
Topic: Salient features of world’s physical geography.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India
Why the question:
For two consecutive mornings, dense fog has enveloped northwestern India, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the mechanism of formation of fog, factors aiding formation of smog and its impact.
Introduction:
Begin by defining fog as a type of condensation.
Body:
First, write about the mechanism that leads to the formation of fog in the atmosphere.
Next, write about smog and the factors that result in the formation of smog.
Next, mention the adverse impact of smog on – weather, health, transportation, buildings, plants etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude by mentioning steps to overcome the adverse effects of smog.
Introduction
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth’s surface. Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind. Delhi is seeing ‘radiation fog’, or localised ‘ground’ fog.
Smog is a harmful mixture of fog, dust and air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, etc. which combine with sunlight to form a dense layer of ground-level ozone. It is a specific type of air pollution. It is a combination of harmful pollutants that are introduced into the atmosphere by both natural and human induced processes.
Body
mechanism behind formation of fog
- Fog forms like clouds do — when water vapour condenses.
- The presence of moisture and a fall in the temperature are key factors for the formation of fog.
- With the land surface cooling down at night, the air close to the surface also cools down.
- Since cooler air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air, the water vapour in the air condenses to form fog.
- Fog begins to form in the early hours of the morning, when the temperature is at its lowest.
- On Monday, for instance, fog in Delhi began to form around 1.30 am.
- Fog can have “high spatial variability”, and its intensity can depend on factors like humidity, wind, and temperature.
- Areas near water bodies, for instance, may see denser fog because of the higher humidity.
various factors that aid the formation of smog
- Nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, ozone, smoke, and other particles make up this type of visual air pollution.
- Seasonal changes – As the winter months approach, airborne dust and contaminants become immobile.
- Smog develops as a result of these pollutants becoming trapped in the atmosphere by ineffective winds, which also impact weather patterns.
- Stubble burning, Coal combustion emissions, automotive emissions, industrial emissions, forest and agricultural fires, and photochemical reactions of these emissions all contribute to man-made events.
- The reaction of pollutants from automobiles, factories, and industries with sunlight and the environment cause smog.
Impact of smog
- Inhaling smog over a long span of time can inflame your breathing passage, much like cigarette smoking.
- Smog causes inflamed lungs, and inflamed lungs, in turn, secrete interleukin-6 which can cause blood clots in people, cardiac and respiratory disorders, leading to heart attacks or strokes.
- Smog can dry out the protective membranes of your nose and throat.
- It can jeopardize your body’s ability to resist infection, hence, increasing your susceptibility to illness.
- It can greatly decrease the UV radiation, leading to low production of important elements like Vitamin D.
- Plants and animal life are negatively impacted by the collection of chemicals contained in photochemical haze.
Conclusion
A coordinated effort by the Center, the National Green Tribunal, the judiciary, expert agencies, and most crucially the general public is required to develop a long-term and sustainable solution to air pollution and smog.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Down to Earth
Why the question:
A warming planet is resulting in the loss of the Earth’s cryosphere — parts of the planet where water is permanently frozen such as glaciers and ice sheets, and this could be resurrecting trapped pathogens, giving rise to potential public health threats, find a new study.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about permafrost, its global distribution and impact of its thawing.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate 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.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining permafrost.
Body:
First, with a map, show the major areas of the world that are covered with permafrost.
Next, write about the thawing of permafrost under the impact of global warming.
Next, write about the impact of thawing of permafrost – Thawing permafrost can raise water levels in Earth’s oceans and increase erosion, resurrecting trapped pathogens, giving rise to potential public health threats etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way froward to handle the above challenges.
Introduction
Permafrost is any type of ground, from soil to sediment to rock—that has been frozen continuously for a minimum of two years and as many as hundreds of thousands of years. It can extend down beneath the earth’s surface from a few feet to more than a mile—covering entire regions, such as the Arctic tundra, or a single, isolated spot, such as a mountaintop of alpine permafrost.
Body
Formation of permafrost
- The water that is trapped in sediment, soil, and the cracks, crevices, and pores of rocks turns to ice when ground temperatures drop below 32°F (0°C).
- When the earth remains frozen for at least two consecutive years, it’s called permafrost. If the ground freezes and thaws every year, it’s considered “seasonally frozen.”
- About a quarter of the entire northern hemisphere is permafrost, where the ground is frozen year-round.
- It’s widespread in the Arctic regions of Siberia, Canada, Greenland, and Alaska—where nearly 85 percent of the state sits atop a layer of permafrost.
- It’s also found on the Tibetan plateau, in high-altitude regions like the Rocky Mountains, and on the floor of the Arctic Ocean as undersea permafrost.
- In the southern hemisphere, where there’s far less ground to freeze, permafrost is found in mountainous regions such as the South American Andes and New Zealand’s Southern Alps, as well as below Antarctica.
Thawing of Permafrost
- While global warming is upping temperatures around the world, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else and faster than it has in the past 3 million years.
- And when surface air temperatures rise, below-ground temperatures do, too, thawing permafrost along the way.
- Scientists estimate there is now 10 percent less frozen ground in the northern hemisphere than there was in the early 1900s.
- One recent study suggests that with every additional8°F (1°C) of warming, an additional 1.5 million square miles of permafrost could eventually disappear.
- Even if we meet the climate targets laid out during the 2015 Paris climate talks, the world may still lose more than 2.5 million square miles of frozen turf.
Impact of permafrost thawing
- Huge Carbon Sink: An estimated 1,400 gigatons of carbon are frozen in Arctic permafrost, making it one of the world’s largest carbon sinks.
- That’s about four times more than humans have emitted since the Industrial Revolution, and nearly twice as much as is currently contained in the atmosphere.
- According to a recent report,2 degrees Celsius increase in temperature, expected by the end of the century will result in a loss of about 40 percent of the world’s permafrost by 2100.
- Loss of trapped Green house gases: Packed with many thousands of years of life, from human bodies to the bodies of woolly mammoths, permafrost is one of earth’s great stores of global warming gases.
- Indeed, permafrost in the Arctic alone is estimated to hold nearly twice as much carbon as exists in the atmosphere now, as well as a sizable amount of methane—a powerful greenhouse gas that traps more than 80 times more heat on the planet than carbon does.
- Toxins: A recent study found that Arctic permafrost is a massive repository of natural mercury, a potent neurotoxin. Indeed, it’s estimated that some 15 million gallons of mercury—or nearly twice the amount of mercury found in the ocean, atmosphere, and all other soils combined—are locked in permafrost soils.
- Once released, however, that mercury can spread through water or air into ecosystems and potentially even food supplies.
- Crumbling Infrastructure: About 35 million people live in a permafrost zone, in towns and cities built on top of what was once considered permanently frozen ground.
- But as that solid ground softens, the infrastructure these communities rely on grows increasingly unstable.
- Eg: Recent Russian Norilsk diesel oil spill is an ongoing industrial disaster, which occurred at a thermal power plant that was supported on permafrost, crumbled.
- Altered Landscape: Thawing permafrost alters natural ecosystems in many ways as well. It can create thermokarsts, areas of sagging ground and shallow ponds that are often characterized by “drunken forests” of askew trees.
- It can make soil—once frozen solid—more vulnerable to landslides and erosion, particularly along coasts.
- As this softened soil erodes, it can introduce new sediment to waterways, which may alter the flow of rivers and streams, degrade water quality (including by the introduction of carbon), and impact aquatic wildlife.
- Diseases and viruses: it can also trap and preserve ancient microbes.
- It’s believed that some bacteria and viruses can lie dormant for thousands of years in permafrost’s cold, dark confines before waking up when the ground warms.
- A 2016 anthrax outbreak in Siberia, linked to a decades-old reindeer carcass infected with the bacteria and exposed by thawed permafrost, demonstrated the potential threat.
- In 2015, researchers in Siberia uncovered the Mollivirus sibericum, a 30,000-year-old behemoth of a virus that succeeded in infecting a rather defenseless amoeba in a lab experiment.
- About a decade earlier, scientists discovered the first Mimivirus, a 1,200-gene specimen measuring twice the width of traditional viruses, buried beneath layers of melting frost in the Russian tundra. (For comparison, HIV has just nine genes.)
- This can be the case with other diseases, such as smallpox and the 1918 Spanish flu—known to exist in the frozen tundra, in the mass graves of those killed by the disease.
- Human contact with zombie pathogens may risk new pandemics, if there is unabated mining of metals from permafrost.
Conclusion
By reducing our carbon footprint, investing in energy-efficient products, and supporting climate-friendly businesses, legislation, and policies, we can help preserve the world’s permafrost and avert a vicious cycle of an ever-warming planet.
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: Indian Express , The Hindu
Why the question:
The deadline for comments on the Digital Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2022, has been extended till January 2, 2023. The Bill of 2022 incorporates hefty penalties for non-compliance, but which are capped without any link to the turnover of the entity in question.
Key Demand of the question:
To analyse the proposed Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, its potential and limitations in upholding right to information.
Directive word:
Comment– here we must express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by writing about the aims and objectives of Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.
Body:
In the first part, write about the major provisions of Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.
Next, write about the positives of the bill in ensuring adequate safeguards in upholding the right to privacy.
Next, write about the major shortcomings of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 and especially in regards to putting limitations on right to information.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a balanced opinion.
Introduction
The new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 released in November 18 focuses on personal data, as compared to an earlier unwieldy draft. The personal data protection bill has been in the works for about five years. The first draft of the Bill was presented by an expert panel headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna in July 2018, after a year-long consultation process.
The deadline for comments on the Digital Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2022, has been extended till January 2, 2023. The Bill of 2022 incorporates hefty penalties for non-compliance, but which are capped without any link to the turnover of the entity in question.
Body
Features of the bill
- Data Principal and Data Fiduciary: The bill uses the term “Data Principal” to denote the individual whose data is being collected.
- The term “Data Fiduciary” the entity (can be an individual, company, firm, state etc.), which decides the “purpose and means of the processing of an individual’s personal data.”
- The law also makes a recognition that in the case of children –defined as all users under the age of 18— their parents or lawful guardians will be considered their ‘Data Principals.’
- Defining personal data and its processing: Under the law, personal data is “any data by which or in relation to which an individual can be identified.”
- Processing means “the entire cycle of operations that can be carried out in respect of personal data.”
- So right from collection to storage of data would come under processing of data as per the bill.
- Individual’s informed consent: The bill also makes it clear that individual needs to give consent before their data is processed.
- Every individual should know what items of personal data a Data Fiduciary wants to collect and the purpose of such collection and further processing.
- Individuals also have the right to withdraw consent from a Data Fiduciary.
- The bill also gives consumers the right to file a complaint against a ‘Data Fiduciary’ with the Data Protection Board in case they do not get a satisfactory response from the company.
- Language of information: The bill also ensures that individuals should be able to “access basic information” in languages specified in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
- Further, the notice of data collection needs to be in clear and easy-to-understand language.
- Significant Data Fiduciaries: The bill also talks of ‘Significant Data Fiduciaries, who deal with a high volume of personal data.
- The Central government will define who is designated under this category based on a number of factors ranging from the volume of personal data processed to the risk of harm to the potential impact on the sovereignty and integrity of India.
- Data protection officer & Data auditor: Such entities will have to appoint a ‘Data protection officer’ who will represent them.
- They will be the point of contact for grievance redressal.
- They will also have to appoint an independent Data auditor who shall evaluate their compliance with the act.
- Right to erase data, right to nominate: Data principals will have the right to demand the erasure and correction of data collected by the data fiduciary.
- They will also have the right to nominate an individual who will exercise these rights in the event of death or incapacity of the data principal.
- Cross-border data transfer: The bill also allows for cross-border storage and transfer of data to “certain notified countries and territories.”
- However an assessment of relevant factors by the Central Government would precede such a notification.
- Financial penalties: The draft also proposes to impose significant penalties on businesses that undergo data breaches or fail to notify users when breaches happen.
- Entities that fail to take “reasonable security safeguards” to prevent personal data breaches will be fined as high as Rs 250 crore.
- As per the draft, the Data Protection Board — a new regulatory body to be set up by the government — can impose a penalty of up to ₹500 crore if non-compliance by a person is found to be significant.
Positives of the current Bill
- Gender neutrality: Significantly, and for the first time in the country’s legislative history, the terms ‘her’ and ‘she’ have been used irrespective of an individual’s gender. This, as per the draft, is in line with the government’s philosophy of empowering women.
- Imbibes best global practices: To prepare it, best global practices were considered, including review of data protection legislations of Australia, European Union (EU), Singapore, and a prospective one of the USA.
- Comprehensiveness: The draft has outlined six ‘Chapters’ and a total of twenty-five points. The ‘Chapters’ are: ‘Preliminary,’ ‘Obligations of Data Fiduciary,’ ‘Rights and Duties of Data Principal,’ ‘Special Provisions,’ ‘Compliance Framework,’ and ‘Miscellaneous.’
- Special emphasis for child protection: If personal data is likely to cause harm to a child, its processing will not be allowed.
- Widening the scope of data: Narrowing the scope of the data protection regime to personal data protection is a welcome move, as it resonates with the concerns of various stakeholders.
- Harnessing economic potential: Now non-personal data could be used to unlock social and economic value to benefit citizens, businesses, and communities in India with appropriate safeguards in place.
- Doing away with aggressive push for Data localisation: Relaxing data localisation provisions to notify countries to which data can flow, could aid India in unlocking the comparative advantage of accessing innovative technological solutions from across the globe, which in turn helps domestic companies.
- Free flow of data: In addition, the free flow of data will help startups access cost-effective technology and storage solutions, as our research shows.
- Allowing data transfers: This will also ensure that India is not isolated from the global value chain, helping businesses stay resilient in production and supply chain management and fostering overseas collaboration.
Issues with the current Bill
- Wide-ranging exemptions to the Centre and its agencies with little to no safeguards, and reduced independence of the proposed Data Protection Board are among the key concerns flagged by experts.
- It is also worth noting that the new Bill has just 30 clauses compared to the more than 90 in the previous one, mainly because a lot of operational details have been left to subsequent rule-making.
- The central government can issue notifications to exempt its agencies from adhering to provisions of the draft law for national security reasons.
- In an explanatory note accompanying the proposed legislation, the government argued that “national and public interest is at times greater than the interest of an individual”, while justifying the need for such exemptions.
- The draft law leaves the appointment of the chairperson and members of the Data Protection Board entirely to the discretion of the central government. While the Data Protection Authority was earlier envisaged to be a statutory authority (under the 2019 Bill), the Data Protection Board is now a central government set up board.
Privacy laws of other countries
- China model : New Chinese laws on data privacy and security issued over the last 12 months include the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), which came into effect in November 2021.
- It gives Chinese data principals new rights as it seeks to prevent the misuse of personal data.
- The Data Security Law (DSL), which came into force in September 2021, requires business data to be categorized by levels of importance, and puts new restrictions on cross-border transfers.
- These regulations will have a significant impact on how companies collect, store, use and transfer data, but are essentially focused on giving the government overreaching powers to collect data as well as to regulate private companies that collect and process information.
- US Model: Privacy protection is largely defined as “liberty protection” focused on the protection of the individual’s personal space from the government. It is viewed as being somewhat narrow in focus because it enables collection of personal information as long as the individual is informed of such collection and use.
- The US template has been viewed as inadequate in key respects of regulation.
- GDPR EU: The GDPR focuses on a comprehensive data protection law for processing of personal data.
- It has been criticised for being excessively stringent, and imposing many obligations on organisations processing data, but it is the template for most of the legislation drafted around the world.
Conclusion
The reworked version of the data protection Bill, released three months after the Govt withdrew an earlier draft, eases cross-border data flows and increases penalties for breaches. But it gives the Centre wide-ranging powers and prescribes very few safeguards. A thorough stakeholder consultation is required before the Bill is tabled.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Down to Earth
Why the question:
Undoubtedly, financial technology (fintech) is driving greater financial inclusion. Innovations are giving people more access to financial services through mobile and computing services, the internet, and payment cards. One of these services is microcredit: Small loans for individuals and informal businesses.
Key Demand of the question:
To understand the nature and functioning of microfinance industry and its role in eradicating poverty and its limitations.
Directive word:
Analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by mentioning the credit lending structure of microfinance industry.
Body:
First, describe the lack of formal credit lending structures to the poor for initiating some business or investment activity and with no collateral.
Next, highlight the role of microfinance sector in empowering women and help the poor to begin an income generating activity and take up small entrepreneurial ventures through small capital financing.
Next, mention few successful models of microfinancing in India and abroad and a few takeaways from them.
Next, write about the limitations of micro-finance in India.
Conclusion:
Conclude by mentioning a way forward.
Introduction
Microcredit refers to the granting of very small loans to impoverished borrowers, with the aim of enabling the borrowers to use that capital to become self-employed and strengthen their businesses. Loans given as microcredit are often given to people who may lack collateral, credit history, or a steady source of income. It has gained much traction as a tool for ensuring the welfare of the most impoverished in the society but there are certain flaws in the model.
Body:
Potential of Microcredit:
- The core idea of microcredit is that a small loan will provide access to the larger economy to people who typically live outside the scope of the institutions on which the mainstream economy rests.
- Such a loan is meant to enable them to commence with productive activities, and will give them the initial boost required to gain entry into an industry, after which production will be able to sustain itself, and the loan will gradually be repaid.
- Microcredit agreements frequently do not require any sort of collateral, and sometimes may not even involve a written agreement, as many recipients of microcredit are often illiterate.
- When borrowers demonstrate success in paying their loans on time, they become eligible for loans of even larger amounts, allowing them to finance expansion.
Case study: An example of a microcredit institution is the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, founded in 1976 by Mohammed Yunus. The Grameen Bank offers small loans to the impoverished without asking for collateral, and was the pioneering institution in the realm of microfinance. The bank has 8.4 million followers, 97% of whom are women, and the bank has repayment success rates between 95 to 98 percent.
Challenges faced:
- The primary reason for the lackadaisical effects of microcredit is the stringent repayment schedule offered by most microcredit institutions.
- Since most borrowers to whom microcredit is given have little to no credit history as a result of their exclusion from traditional systems of credit, institutions offering microcredit are unable to judge the risk associated with lending to certain borrowers, and cannot be sure what the risk of them defaulting will be.
- To lower the risk of defaulting, microcredit lenders therefore resort to repayment schedules that demand an initial repayment that is almost immediate, after which borrowers must adhere to an inflexible weekly schedule for repayments.
- The effect of this is that borrowers are unable to use the loans on investments that will take some time to be fully realised, and instead are forced to use the loans they receive on short term investments that only boost production to an extent, and the overall growth of their incomes remains meager.
- A study found that having access to microcredit made very little difference to changing the lifestyles of borrowers, based on six indicators: household business profits, business expenditures, business revenues, consumption, consumer durables spending, and spending on temptation goods. These indicators only saw a 5% impact when microcredit was available.
Measures needed:
- There is a need for microcredit to consider adopting more flexible operating models, providing skills training and offering services such as portability of accounts to provide greater access for a longer duration of time.
- A diversified menu of micro loan products linked to sustainable income generation activities via micro enterprises or a creation of community-based pooled enterprise could possibly make it more attractive and compatible with the requirements of women.
- In addition, linking such developmental initiatives to an institution to nurture, monitor and handhold those activities in the formative stages is crucial for sustainability.
Conclusion
Microcredit has a vast range of applications for poverty alleviation and general development, but existing systems require reform in multiple areas to allow for unfettered benefits that last. Furthermore, in areas were the application of microcredit is relatively new, microcredit systems must be carefully evaluated before they are put into place, so as to enable the greatest benefit from such institutions.
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Down to Earth , Insights on India
Why the question:
Funds from Project Tiger as well as the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA) were used to finance the project to bring African cheetahs to India, the Union government told Parliament December 19, 2022.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the achievements and limitations of project tiger in India.
Directive word:
Evaluate – When you are asked to evaluate, you have to pass a sound judgement about the truth of the given statement in the question or the topic based on evidence. You must appraise the worth of the statement in question. There is scope for forming an opinion here.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by explaining the aims and objectives behind the launch of project tiger.
Body:
First, write about the crisis in tiger population before the launch of Project Tiger. Mention the steps that were introduced as part of tiger conservation efforts.
Next, evaluate in success in achieving improvements in tiger numbers. Also, mention the various how it also conserved the local flora and fauna of ecosystems.
Next, write about the limitations of the project Tiger.
Conclusion:
Conclude by stressing on the need to keep up the conservation efforts.
Introduction
Tigers are at the top of the food chain and are sometimes referred to as “umbrella species” that is their conservation also conserve many other species in the same area.
According to results of the Tiger census, the total count of tigers has risen to 2,967 in 2018 from 2,226 in 2014 which is an increase of 741 individuals (aged more than one year), or 33%, in four years. The Tiger estimation exercise that includes habitat assessment and prey estimation reflects the success or failure of Tiger conservation efforts.
Body
Threat faced by Tiger population
- Less than a hundred years ago, tigers prowled all across India and the sub-continent. But growing human populations, particularly since the 1940s,have contracted and fragmented the tiger’s former range.
- For over thousand years, tigers have been hunted as status symbol, decorative item such as wall and floor covering, as souvenirs and curios, and for use intraditional Asian medicines.
- Hunting for sportprobably caused the greatest decline in tiger populations until the 1930s.
- In the early 1990s, trade in tiger bone for traditional Asian medicines threatened to drive tigers to extinction in the wild.
- Poaching is the largest immediate threat to the remaining tiger population.
- Large-scale habitat destruction and decimation of prey populations are the major long-term threats to the existence of the dwindling tiger population in the country.
- And along with habitat, tigers have also suffered a severe loss of natural preypopulations – in particular ungulates such as deer and antelopes.
Other challenges to tiger conservation
Funds from Project Tiger as well as the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA) were used to finance the project to bring African cheetahs to India, the Union government told Parliament December 19, 2022.
Project Tiger: Aims and objectives
More than 80% of the world’s wild tigers are in India, and it’s crucial to keep track of their numbers and conserve their population. The Government of India launched the Project Tiger with the aim of saving the steadily declining population of tigers in India on 1 April 1973.
- Objectives: To reduce factors that cause the diminishing of tiger habitats and manage them.
- Ensure a viable tiger population for scientific, ecological, economic, aesthetic and cultural values.
- The administrating body for the project is the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- The NTCA was formed in 2005 as per the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force. Under the organisation, there are eight Conservations Units each headed by a director who is responsible for his/her reserve area.
- The reserves are created and functioned on a core/buffer strategy. That is, the core areas have the legal status of a national park or sanctuary in India.
- The buffer areas form the peripheral region and are a combination of forest and non-forest lands.
- The project purposes of adopting an exclusive tiger agenda in the core areas and an inclusive people-centric approach in the buffer regions.
- The project, apart from preserving the habitats of the tigers in their ecological purity, also does the job of conducting tiger census in the country. It also combats poaching.
- The project is in the process of creating a national database of individual tigers with photos so that seized body parts or dead tigers can be traced.
- The Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status, or M-STrIPES was launched in 2010 and is a software-based monitoring system for tigers.
Way forward and Conclusion
- We have to create a healthy balance between sustainability and development.
- Forest corridorslinking protected areas must be maintained where they exist.
- Existing habitats have to be surveyed and improved to provide food for the elephants
- Local communitiesneed to be educated to have reduced stress levels in elephants during conflict mitigation, no fire, no firecracker and no mob crowds.
- There is a need for a monitoring mechanismwhich will record and disperse information on such conflicts
- Experts suggest the other way to reduce the man-animal conflict is to increase the population of wild ungulates, namely hares and the wild boars, both of which are prolific breeders, as a prey for wild carnivores. Separate big enclosures can be made in the jungles to breed them. The excess stock can be released in the jungles at regular intervals for the wild carnivores to prey upon.
- In order to be truly effective, prevention of human-wildlife conflict has to involve the full scope of society: international organizations, governments, NGOs, communities, consumers and individuals. Solutions are possible, but often they also need to have financial backing for their support and development.
General Studies – 4
Topic: ethics – in private and public relationships.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable (revision).
Key Demand of the question:
To write about ethical principles that should govern private relationships and their importance.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by giving context of private relationships.
Body:
First, write about the five ethical principles that should govern private relationships according to you – Care and Affection, Fidelity, Confidentiality, Truthfulness, Responsibility & Accountability, Tolerance and acceptance of minor imperfections etc.
Next, write about why the above mentioned principles are important.
Conclusion:
Conclude by summarising.
Introduction
The distinction between ethics in private and public relationships is a dubious one because both in public and private lives, one has to live by some of the common ethical values. A person who is unethical in his public life can hardly be expected to be ethical in his private life and vice versa. For instance, A dishonest civil servant is least expected to show integrity in his personal relationship.
Body
Five ethical principles that should govern private relationships
- Care and Affection – Emotional bond of affection and care goes beyond limitations. This bond is not driven by legal rules or quid pro quo but by human emotions. For instance, In Mahabharata, King Dhritrashtra had unconditional affection for his sons despite of their misdeeds and always took their side while being the King of Hastinapur.
- Fidelity – This is key driver of marital relationship and essence of Ethics of marriage. It refers to being loyal to one’s life partner and avoid sensual distraction or committing adulterous act.
- Confidentiality – In order to maintain sanctity of private relationships, secrecy and privacy are of paramount importance. For example, we generally restrain ourselves to share secrets of our friend, colleague, life partner etc. without their permission else it would bring disharmony in such relationships.
- Truthfulness – Truthfulness is the key demand in private relationships. It amplifies the mutual trust and strengthens the emotional bonds in such relationships. For instance, being always truthful helps in avoiding unnecessary conflicts that may arise out of one’s alleged suspicious activities.
- Responsibility & Accountability – In private relationships, one is bestowed with various responsibilities such responsibility towards child, life partner, parents etc. This requires fulfilling the responsibility towards them and also being accountable to them, in case of non-fulfilment of responsibility.
- Tolerance and acceptance of minor imperfections – Human beings can never achieve perfection thus there is bound to be conflict in private relationships in absence of any prescribed rules and regulations. Therefore, one must accommodate the imperfections of others to bring peace and harmony in such relationships. For instance, your wife is quite introvert in public interactions, you being a civil servant doesn’t like this but tolerate it for peaceful marital life.
As we know, relationship is an inescapable necessity in our life since our personality is the mere manifestation of how we manages these relationships. For instance, personality of a crook is nothing but the troubled relationship, he shares at personal and societal level. Thus, there is a need to manage these relationships in proper manner by upholding concerned ethical principles as discussed above.
Generally, People think that personal and public relationships are diverging in nature and must have different standards to practice but we have the problem with separation. Even Mahatama Gandhi disagreed with this viewpoint. He held that, conducts of public servant should be open to public scrutiny since they are devoted to the profession of public service barring few intimate relationship such as Relationship with life partner. This doesn’t mean that his adulterous conduct is beyond public scrutiny
Conclusion
A harmony between private and public ethics has always existed. Prentious behaviour can only short lived and the true nature will be revealed with circumstances at play. A man with ethics in private and public sphere is a man of morality.
Topic: Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators;
Difficulty level: Tough
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable (revision).
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by defining contentment.
Body:
Write about the importance of contentment – Contentment means to be happy with what you have, who you are, and where you are. It is respecting the reality of the present. It is appreciating what you do have and where you are in life.
Next, write about the critique of contentment and how it can negatively impact.
Next, write that Contentment does not mean the absence of desire; it just means you are satisfied with your present, and you trust that the turns your life takes will be for the best.
Cite suitable examples to substantiate the above.
Conclusion:
Complete the answer by summarising.
Introduction
Satisfaction to be happy with what you have, who you are, and where you are. It is respecting the reality of the present. It is appreciating what you do have and where you are in life. Contentment does not mean the absence of desire; it just means you are satisfied with your present, and you trust that the turns your life takes will be for the best.
Body
Many people today think life is a race where you must be the best at everything. We might want a fancier car, a bigger house, a better-earning job, or more money. The moment we achieve one thing, the race for the next thing starts. Rarely do many individuals spare a minute to just sit back, relax, and be grateful for all they have achieved. Instead of looking back at the distance they have covered, they stretch themselves to cover the distance that remains. And in some cases, this is when ambition becomes greed.
There is often a fine line between ambition and greed. People may think that when they have achieved all they need for their dream lifestyle, they will be satisfied with what they have—but this is rarely the case. Even after you have ticked off all the achievements from your list, you still don’t feel at ease. There may remain an uneasy feeling that something is still missing. That missing feeling is Satisfaction or contentment.
Contentment can help us distinguish between wants and needs. When we are content, we may not desire for anything more than what we need. The abundance of the present is enough to lead a happy and healthy life. Contentment often leads to the realization that joy doesn’t come from material things. Instead, joy comes from deep within. A state of contentment leads to a state of well-being and happiness. Humanity has been in pursuit of the elusive state of happiness or bliss for centuries.
There is no downside to being content. However, one must not confuse contentment with zero ambitions or the zeal to achieve and become better every day. Contentment is not lethargy or lack of purpose. The Buddha emphasized the ‘middle way’. And people often propose the value of ‘nothing in excess’. So, ambition and satisfaction are not mutually exclusive. Make time every day to just be content and make time every day to reflect on what you want to do to make the world a better place, in your own way.
Conclusion
If we wish to feel the essence of contentment, it’s important to practice gratitude, be aware of the fact that nothing is permanent, understand that material things do not often promote long-term happiness, and realize that life is not a race or competition: it is about self-sustenance. The more thankful we are in the present, the happier we may be.
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