[Mission 2023] Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 09 March 2023

At present, India, overall as a country, has a large proportion of population that is young. Close to 30% of India’s population is in the age group 0-14 years. The elderly in the 60-plus age group are still a small proportion (8%) of the country’s population. The working age group 15-59 years accounts for 62.5% of India’s population. The working-age population will reach the highest proportion of approximately 65% in 2036. These population parameters indicate an availability of demographic dividend in India, which started in 2005-06 and will last till 2055-56.

The story gets interesting when we look at the sub-national picture. The demographic dividend is not available in all the states at the same time. This is because different states have behaved differently in the past and are projected to behave differently in terms of population parameters in future also.

To start with, the fertility decline across states and regions has been different. Some states, especially in southern India, started seeing the fertility decline earlier than other states, especially the states in the hinterland. This created regional variations in the degrees and timings of fertility decline. A clear pattern of demographic divergence has emerged in India. When all the states in India are mapped in terms of fertility levels, one sees a predominantly youthful north and a maturing south and west.

Which of the following is the key focus area of the passage?

At present, India, overall as a country, has a large proportion of population that is young. Close to 30% of India’s population is in the age group 0-14 years. The elderly in the 60-plus age group are still a small proportion (8%) of the country’s population. The working age group 15-59 years accounts for 62.5% of India’s population. The working-age population will reach the highest proportion of approximately 65% in 2036. These population parameters indicate an availability of demographic dividend in India, which started in 2005-06 and will last till 2055-56.

The story gets interesting when we look at the sub-national picture. The demographic dividend is not available in all the states at the same time. This is because different states have behaved differently in the past and are projected to behave differently in terms of population parameters in future also.

To start with, the fertility decline across states and regions has been different. Some states, especially in southern India, started seeing the fertility decline earlier than other states, especially the states in the hinterland. This created regional variations in the degrees and timings of fertility decline. A clear pattern of demographic divergence has emerged in India. When all the states in India are mapped in terms of fertility levels, one sees a predominantly youthful north and a maturing south and west.

Which of the following is the most rational and critical corollary to the above passage?

The window of demographic dividend points to a differential approach to socio-economic policy planning

Children’s use of social media and the internet is a problem. That doesn’t mean it should be stopped. The internet is at least as interesting and fun for children as it is for adults, and social media is a fact of life. While younger children should not be on platforms where 13 is the minimum age, it is neither practical nor desirable to imagine a world in which teenagers are prevented from accessing the platforms and messaging systems that the adults around them use to organise their lives.

But the pleasure and stimulation that people of all ages find on their screens and smartphones must not blind us to the harm that spending time in this way can cause. The finding that the alarmingly high rate of depression in British teenage girls is closely correlated to time spent on social media is extremely concerning. Children’s charities and clinicians have long highlighted cyberbullying and issues around self-esteem, often linked to anxieties around attractiveness and sexuality. While there is nothing new about teenagers being unkind to each other, there is a world of difference between whispered rumours and Photoshopped images. Feeling excluded or unpopular has always been painful, but it didn’t use to be possible for children to torment themselves – or others – with feeds featuring pictures of their peers having a wonderful time.

Which of the following is the most logical and accurate corollary that can be drawn from the above passage?

Children’s use of social media and the internet is a problem. That doesn’t mean it should be stopped. The internet is at least as interesting and fun for children as it is for adults, and social media is a fact of life. While younger children should not be on platforms where 13 is the minimum age, it is neither practical nor desirable to imagine a world in which teenagers are prevented from accessing the platforms and messaging systems that the adults around them use to organise their lives.

But the pleasure and stimulation that people of all ages find on their screens and smartphones must not blind us to the harm that spending time in this way can cause. The finding that the alarmingly high rate of depression in British teenage girls is closely correlated to time spent on social media is extremely concerning. Children’s charities and clinicians have long highlighted cyberbullying and issues around self-esteem, often linked to anxieties around attractiveness and sexuality. While there is nothing new about teenagers being unkind to each other, there is a world of difference between whispered rumours and Photoshopped images. Feeling excluded or unpopular has always been painful, but it didn’t use to be possible for children to torment themselves – or others – with feeds featuring pictures of their peers having a wonderful time.

Which of the following is/are valid assumptions that have been made in the passage?

1. 1. Girls are more susceptible to cyber bullying than boys
   2. Teenagers are impacted by peer pressure much more than adults

The debate in the media on higher education is often focussed on issues related to governance and autonomy — but these are not the only important issues. There needs to be a debate on the content of higher education in HEIs. Just after Independence, a commission comprising educationists from India, the U.K. and the U.S., and chaired by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, was formed “to report on Indian University Education and suggest improvements and extensions that may be desirable to suit present and future requirements of the country”. Its report filed after its deliberations (December 1948-August 1949) came to be known as the Radhakrishnan Commission Report (RCR). Philosophical deliberations in the report that are related to the content of higher education are still relevant today.

The RCR recommended a well-balanced education with ‘general’, ‘liberal’ and ‘occupational’ components. Without all-round general (including liberal) education, one could not be expected to play roles expected of a citizen outside one’s immediate professional sphere. The report advocated that general education and specialised/professional education should proceed together. The study of languages should be given equal importance as one communicated to the outside world only through the medium of language. Therefore, a lack of communication skills could be a handicap. The RCR drew inspiration from the emphasis on general education in universities in the U.S. It cited a lecture by Einstein (1931) where he said: “The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgement should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge. If a person masters the fundamentals of his subject and has learned to think and work independently, he will surely find his way….”

Which of the following is /are assumptions that have been made in the passage?

1. 1. 1. Focussing solely on technical education limits personality development
      2. Generalists do much better in life as compared to specialists