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: Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent);
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Why the question:
Scientists from the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, have estimated the quantity of rare earth elements that can be recovered from a toxic byproduct of aluminium extraction that India produces in copious amounts.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the importance of REEs.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining Rare earth elements (REEs) and why are they called rare.
Body:
Write significance of Rare Earth Elements (REE. Discuss its utility in terms of – defense, strategy environment etc. Global Uses and Production of Rare Earth Elements. Cite examples.
Next, write about the difficulties in extracting REE and recycling them.
Conclusion:
Conclude by Summarising.
Introduction
The rare earth minerals (REM) are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table in addition to scandium and yttrium that show similar physical and chemical properties to the lanthanides. The REMs have unique catalytic, metallurgical, nuclear, electrical, magnetic and luminescent properties. While named ‘rare earth’, they are in fact not that rare and are relatively abundant in the Earth’s crust
Body
Significance of rare earth elements
- They have distinctive electrical, metallurgical, catalytic, nuclear, magnetic and luminescent
- They are strategically very important due to their use of emerging and diverse technologies which cater to the needs of current society.
- Its usage range from daily use (e.g., lighter flints, glass polishing mediums, car alternators) to high-end technology (lasers, magnets, batteries, fibre-optic telecommunication cables).
- Even futuristic technologies need these REMs (For example high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy, environmental global warming and energy efficiency issues).
- The global demand for REMs has increased significantly in line with their expansion into high-end technology, environment, and economic areas.
- They are extremely important for many modern technologies, including consumer electronics, computers, and networks, communications, clean energy, advanced transportation, health care, environmental mitigation, national defense etc.
- Due to their unique magnetic, luminescent, and electrochemical properties, they help in technologies perform with reduced weight, reduced emissions, and energy consumption; therefore give them greater efficiency, performance, miniaturization, speed, durability, and thermal stability.
Difficulties in extracting rare earth elements
- Mineral reserves are often concentrated in regions that are geopolitically sensitive.
- The geographic concentration of mining and processing of the minerals may also adversely impact their availability.
- A portion of existing production is controlled by geostrategic competitors.
- China wields considerable influence in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo through direct equity investments and its Belt and Road Initiative.
- Three-fifths of rare earth minerals, essential for clean energy, electronics, and defence technologies, are mined in China.
- Some of the required critical mineral assets for India’s manufacturing sectors (particularly of green technologies) are not yet ready to be mined.
- There are also some critical minerals of which there exists no known resources within India.
- Recent global geo-political factors adversely affecting critical minerals supply chains, starting with the Covid-19 pandemic and followed by the Russia-Ukraine war.
- Indonesia, that has world’s largest nickel reserves – has banned the export of raw nickel ore, as they seek to develop a domestic nickel processing industry.
Conclusion
The ‘Make in India’ program whose goal is to make India a manufacturing economy will need REEs in huge amount. Although India is among the top five nations with reserves of rare-earth minerals, there is no required technology to extract in environmentally sustainable way. Thus, India will need to firm up diplomatic trade channels and long-term supply contracts. There is also a need to develop suitable technologies, promote Research and Development to tap the REE
Value addition
Minerals Security Partnership (MSP):
- The US and 10 partners — Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission have come together to form the MSP.
- Catalyzing investment from governments and the private sector: The new grouping is aimed at catalyzing investment from governments and the private sector to develop strategic opportunities.
- Focus on the supply chains of minerals: The new grouping, industry insiders say, could focus on the supply chains of minerals such as Cobalt, Nickel, Lithium, and also the 17 ‘rare earth’ minerals.
Topic: Social empowerment; Role of women and women’s organization
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The article discusses the arrest of a woman in Kerala, India, for allegedly selling illegally brewed toddy, a traditional drink made from coconut palm sap. The author argues that the arrest is rooted in pervasive misogyny in Kerala, which often targets women for activities that are considered morally questionable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the impact of patriarchy on women.
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 patriarchy.
Body:
In the first part, write about the ways patriarchy is prevalent in the society in terms of discriminatory values, norms, beliefs and practices. Cite examples to substantiate.
Next, write about impact of patriarchy on women – economic dependence, violence, domestication and the peripherals of decision-making.
Next, mention ways to challenge patriarchy and make the society egalitarian.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
Introduction
Patriarchy is a complex and a mystifying institution of power and control in the society. Patriarchy signifies a male dominated structure which has a long history and has existed in every society in the world. It is essentially a system of male domination in diverse aspects of life such as moral authority, social privilege, decision making, control of property, political leadership et al. It has hampered the position of the middle-class working women in India in contemporary times owing to prolonged practices of the past and submissiveness of the females.
Body
Prevalence of patriarchy in our society
- The first lessons of patriarchy are learnt in the family where the head of the family is a man/ father. Man is considered the head of the family and controls women’s sexuality, labour or production, reproduction and mobility.
- In a patriarchal family the birth of male child is preferred to that of a female.
- Patriarchal societies propagate the ideology of motherhood which restricts women’s mobility and burdens them with the responsibilities to nurture and rear children.
- Family is therefore important for socializing the next generation in patriarchal values. The boys learn to be dominating and aggressive and girls learn to be caring, loving and submissive. These stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are not only social constructs but also have been internalized by both men and
- While the pressure to earn and look after the family is more on the man, the women are supposed to do the menial jobs and take care of their children and even other members of the family. It is because of these gender stereotypes that women are at a disadvantage and are vulnerable to violence and other kinds of discriminations and injustices.
- Systemic deprivation and violence against women: rape, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, female feticide, infanticide, sati, dowry deaths, wife-beating, high level of female illiteracy, malnutrition, undernourishment and continued sense of insecurity keeps women bound to home, economically exploited, socially suppressed and politically passive
- Patriarchal constructions of knowledge perpetuate patriarchal ideology and this is reflected in educational institutions, knowledge system and media which reinforce male dominance.
- Patriarchal constructions of social practices are legitimized by religion and religious institutions as most religious practices regard male authority as superior and the laws and norms regarding family, marriage, divorce and inheritance are linked to patriarchal control over property biased against women
- Male dominated institutions like church and state also lay down rules regarding women’s reproductive capacity
Impact of patriarchy on women
- Childcare responsibility solely on women: One big factor is maternity. Many women who join the workforce are unable to re-join after having a child. This is because, childcare is mainly seen as a woman’s job.
- Bias at workplace against women: The landmark legislation, which entitles a woman to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave is becoming a big hurdle.
- As per a study this increased cost for companies and this may discourage them from hiring women.
- Mothers are also not given preference because they are seen to take less official responsibilities due to family.
- Safety: The safety in metropolitan, tier 1 and tier 2 cities is the major issue. Concerns about safety and Harassment at work site, both explicit and implicit.
- Unpaid work: Social norms about household work are against women’s mobility and participation in paid work. Childbirth and taking care of elderly parents or in-laws account for the subsequent points where women drop off the employment pipeline.
- Missing women: Due to son-meta preference, millions of girls are denied their basic rights to education, reproductive rights and illegal foeticide.
Measures to overcome the crippling impact of patriarchy
- Behavioural Nudge: For instance, by using taxes to incentivize fairly sharing child-care responsibilities, or by encouraging women and girls to enter traditionally male-dominated sectors such as the armed forces and information technology. Eg Supreme Court in India declared that women could now hold commanding positions in Army.
- Paternity leaves for men, to share the responsibility of child rearing.
- Incentivizing companies to employ women, and reach 50% target.
- Gender Justice at Work
- Bridging the wage gap for equal work.
- Making work places safer through strong laws. India has enacted Sexual Harassment at workplaces act.
- Promote diversity and anti-bias courses for all employees.
- Comprehensive leadership training for women to excel in their fields.
- Gender sensitization: Breaking the social barriers by gender sensitization and education at families, schools and workplaces. Eg : In the NCERT Books, gender roles, bias and prejudice inducing writings were removed.
- Social security and financial literacy: Formalization of jobs should be pushed to avail benefits to many women. Until then, social security benefits should be provided to women in unorganized sector.Eg : Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme in India
- Embedding financial literacy in programmes where women have significant representation could be a good starting point.
- Strong laws and policies wrt equal pay for equal work, maternity benefits are needed to promote women’s representation in economy.
- Political Representation: India has provided 33% reservation for women in the Panchayats and Local Bodies. Capacity Building and training can increase their capabilities further.
Conclusion
Gender equality is a human right which entitles all persons irrespective of their gender to live with dignity and with freedom. Gender equality is also a precondition for development and reducing of poverty. Gender shouldn’t be an unreasonable determining factor curbing the potential of women.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The sixth round of negotiations between senior officials of India and the UK for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) will begin here on Monday.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the advantages of FTA for India-U.K while taking in to account potential bottlenecks.
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 writing about FTA in the context of India-U.K relations.
Body:
In first part, give the historical ties between the two nations in brief and current status of bilateral relations.
Next, write about potential benefits of FTA for both the countries especially in aftermath of the disruptions caused by Brexit and Covid-19 pandemic. Mention trade, diaspora, collaboration etc.
Mention, the potential bottlenecks such as non-tariff barriers, IP protection and Tariff’s etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward for the potential realisation of the FTA.
Introduction
India will soon commence the 6th round of talks for free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom next week. The Indian economy’s future is an exciting one, with the prospect of new technologies, growing businesses and better jobs for its citizens. The UK has the skills and experience to aid this progress.
Body
India UK relations
- Trade and investments: Trade between India and UK touched $5 billion with a $2 billion trade surplus in favour of India.
- UK is the 4th largest inward investor in India accounting for around 7% of all foreign direct investment into India.
- India is the second largest investor in the UK.
- There are 842 Indian companies in the UK, employing more than 110,000 people. o This year, both sides agreed to establish ‘Enhanced Trade Partnership’, which is the first step towards a free trade agreement.
- Defence Relations: Ajeya Warrior (army-to-army biennial exercise), the Konkan (joint navy-to-navy annual exercise) and the Indradhanush (joint air-to-air exercise) happens between India and UK.
- A bilateral Defence Consultative Group (DCG) meeting has taken place annually between the top officials of the Defence Ministry since 1995.
- Diaspora: The year 2017 was declared as UK India year of Culture.
- The 2011 census records approximately 1.5 million people of Indian origin in the UK equating to almost 1.8 percent of the population and contributing 6% of the country’s GDP.
- In 2017 almost one million Britons visited India. Also, there has been a gradual mainstreaming of Indian culture and absorption of Indian cuisine, cinema, languages, religion, philosophy, performing arts, etc. in UK.
India UK FTA: Prospects
- By 2050, India will be the world’s third-largest economy with a middle class of almost 250 million shoppers.
- The UK wants to unlock this huge new market for the great British producers and manufacturers across numerous industries from food and drinks to services and automotive.
- It has the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to GBP 28 billion a year by 2035 and increase wages by up to GBP 3 billion across the UK.
- A deal with India is also pegged as a “big step forward” in the UK’s post-Brexit strategy to refocus trade on the Indo-Pacific, home to half of the world’s population and 50 per cent of global economic growth.
- Reduction or elimination of customs duty under the pact would help Indian labour-intensive sectors like textiles, leather, gems and jewellery to boost exports in the UK market. The UK is seeking duty concessions in areas like Scotch whiskey and automobiles.
- India’s main exports to the UK include ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum and petrochemical products, transport equipment and parts, spices, metal products, machinery and instruments, pharma and marine items.
- Major imports include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, engineering goods, professional instruments, non-ferrous metals, chemicals and machinery.
- The UK is also a key investor in India. New Delhi attracted foreign direct investment of USD 1.64 billion in 2021-22. The figure was about USD 32 billion between April 2000 and March 2022.
- In the services sector, the UK is one of the largest markets in Europe for Indian IT services.
Conclusion
Through its Indo-Pacific tilt, the U.K. is finally carving out a direction and purpose to its post-Brexit foreign policy. And it is this prioritisation that has opened up a new window for New Delhi and London to quickly finalise their FTA.
India is showing a newfound flexibility in engaging with its partners on trade. Moreover, strategic partnerships without strong economic content would have no meaning in the Indo-Pacific, where China’s economic clout is growing by the day. It is a unique “now or never” moment and the two sides seem willing to seize it despite the challenges.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about metaverse, its applications and concerned associated with it.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start the answer by defining metaverse.
Body:
First, elaborate on the various components of the metaverse and its possible applications. Healthcare, Military, Real Estate, Education applications and Manufacturing. Substantiate with examples.
Next, write about the National Biofuel Policy, 2018 – to propel the use of biofuels in India, discussion should debate about the availability of resources, technology etc. and justify that one policy alone would not change the energy scenario but a framework regulating the energy sector in a multi-pronged approach is the need of the hour.
Next, write associated with metaverse – Infrastructure development, interoperability, Payments system, Preventing Cartelization by big companies, Security, Privacy and regulatory issues
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a forward.
Introduction
Metaverse is a combination of multiple elements of technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and video where users “live” within a digital universe.
The concept is gradually gaining immense significance with many tech giants have already set in motion the progress for this process, with Facebook and Epic leading the pack.
Metaverse isn’t going to get built by any one company or even a small number of companies— but through empowering millions of creators around the world. In fact, as Mark Zuckerberg says, India is going to be a huge part of Metaverse considering that India’s online gaming sector, one of the important components of Metaverse, has seen a lot of growth over the past few years.
Body
About metaverse
- The metaverse is not a new idea, science fiction writer Neal Stephenson coined the term in 1992, and the concept is commonplace among video game companies.
- Metaverse is the next version of the Internet focused on social connection.
- It can be defined as a simulated digital environment that uses Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and blockchain, along with concepts from social media, to create spaces for rich user interaction mimicking the real world.
- It can be imagined as a 3D virtual world, with ever-evolving aspects which are collectively shared by its inhabitants – a virtual world with real-time events and an online infrastructure.
- In theory, it encapsulates everything that’s happening into the real world and will bring real-time events and updates going forward. The user exists in a virtual world without borders.
Opportunities offered by metaverse
- Virtual communities, activities, events, all seamlessly accessible without the need to sign into multiple apps.
- For a user-centric approach, a key aspect of the Metaverse that will work in its favour is the effortless transition from one to the next step without discrepancies.
- One can sign into his virtual office as a virtual avatar of himself, meet a client, take a break or play a sport – virtually all in one place.
- With the Covid-19 pandemic confining us to our homes for work, the Metaverse takes it to another level. It facilitates seamless cross-platform interaction with one’s friends, family, colleagues across the world.
- Cross-platform interaction is in its infancy even in the gaming industry. With the Metaverse, cross-platform interaction will be the gold standard for seamless virtual interaction across the globe. Addresses and pin codes won’t be a mandate anymore.
- With the Metaverse, the virtual marketplace will be a serious business affair.
- Brands will transform the way they advertise, which will be a memorable experience rather than the intrusive pop-ups and forced ads as seen today
Issues and associated challenges
- Virtual communities, activities, events, all seamlessly accessible without the need to sign into multiple apps.
- For a user-centric approach, a key aspect of the Metaverse that will work in its favour is the effortless transition from one to the next step without discrepancies.
- One can sign into his virtual office as a virtual avatar of himself, meet a client, take a break or play a sport – virtually all in one place.
- With the Covid-19 pandemic confining us to our homes for work, the Metaverse takes it to another level. It facilitates seamless cross-platform interaction with one’s friends, family, colleagues across the world.
- Cross-platform interaction is in its infancy even in the gaming industry. With the Metaverse, cross-platform interaction will be the gold standard for seamless virtual interaction across the globe. Addresses and pin codes won’t be a mandate anymore.
- With the Metaverse, the virtual marketplace will be a serious business affair.
- Brands will transform the way they advertise, which will be a memorable experience rather than the intrusive pop-ups and forced ads as seen today
Conclusion and way forward
- Addressing Concerns: While technological constraints are always there, privacy concerns are hard to ignore. One more concern is the concept of currency in the virtual world. All these challenges need to be taken into account.
- The government’s involvement in Metaverse is also a significant aspect as it may change the whole dynamic of the Metaverse since cryptocurrency is one of its driving forces.
- Upgrading Technologies: The metaverse is being seen as the Internet 2.0 and for a smooth transition to it, new tech infrastructure needs to be created and protocols written. Today’s internet as a file-sharing protocol will need to be re-imagined for the metaverse.
- Integrating Metaverses: If Facebook and other big internet companies build their own metaverses and sell their own proprietary hardware to access these zones, then the result could be a collection of isolated worlds, forcing digital citizens to pick where they spend the bulk of their time.
- On the other hand, the metaverse could comprise a set of more closely interconnected worlds, some of them controlled entirely by their users.
- This would be a place where people could take their personal data, digital goods and favourite services with them as they move from place to place.
- Ensuring Safety in Metaverse: Metaverse should be made more secure by making safety features easier to find, like a fire extinguisher, and get volunteers to monitor behaviour.
- Educating visitors about what constitutes potentially criminal behaviour would help mitigate harassment, too.
- With the police already stretched from social-media cases and the offline world, tech firms should try more radical solutions to address harassment in the metaverse before it’s too late.
- The dearth of women in the development process for virtual reality certainly isn’t helping and needs to be fixed.
- India’s Role in Metaverse: India’s talent at producing and exporting software and software developers gives the country a unique advantage in the coming world of the metaverse, where our digital personas would be as important as our physical selves.
- Digital India and the components under it such as – Aadhar, Digital Health IDs and Digital Payments System, therefore, is the preparatory infrastructure that is needed for the transition to a digital economy and to the metaverse.
Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, Nano-technology, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about various types of orbits and issues associated with uncontrolled re-entry of rockets
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 an orbit.
Body:
First, write about different types of orbit for satellite launches from earth and their functions. Draw a small representative diagram of the same – Geostationary orbit (GEO), Low Earth orbit (LEO), Medium Earth orbit (MEO), Polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) and Lagrange points (L-points)
Next, in detail, write about the uncontrolled re-entries of rockets into the earth’s orbit and issues associated with it.
Next, write about the measures needed to overcome the above issues.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
Introduction
An orbit is a regular, repeating path that one object in space takes around another one. An object in an orbit is called a satellite. A satellite can be natural, like Earth or the moon. Many planets have moons that orbit them. A satellite can also be man-made, like the International Space Station.
Planets, comets, asteroids and other objects in the solar system orbit the sun. Most of the objects orbiting the sun move along or close to an imaginary flat surface. This imaginary surface is called the ecliptic plane.
Body
Various types of satellite orbits
Upon launch, a satellite or spacecraft is most often placed in one of several particular orbits around Earth – or it might be sent on an interplanetary journey, meaning that it does not orbit Earth anymore, but instead orbits the Sun until its arrival at its final destination, like Mars or Jupiter.
There are many factors that decide which orbit would be best for a satellite to use, depending on what the satellite is designed to achieve.
- Geostationary orbit (GEO): Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth above the equator from west to east following Earth’s rotation – taking 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds – by travelling at exactly the same rate as Earth. This makes satellites in GEO appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position. In order to perfectly match Earth’s rotation, the speed of GEO satellites should be about 3 km per second at an altitude of 35 786 km. This is much farther from Earth’s surface compared to many satellites.
- GEO is used by satellites that need to stay constantly above one particular place over Earth, such as telecommunication satellites.
- This way, an antenna on Earth can be fixed to always stay pointed towards that satellite without moving. It can also be used by weather monitoring satellites, because they can continually observe specific areas to see how weather trends emerge there.
- Low Earth orbit (LEO): A low Earth orbit (LEO) is, as the name suggests, an orbit that is relatively close to Earth’s surface. It is normally at an altitude of less than 1000 km but could be as low as 160 km above Earth – which is low compared to other orbits, but still very far above Earth’s surface.
- By comparison, most commercial aeroplanes do not fly at altitudes much greater than approximately 14 km, so even the lowest LEO is more than ten times higher than that.
- Unlike satellites in GEO that must always orbit along Earth’s equator, LEO satellites do not always have to follow a particular path around Earth in the same way – their plane can be tilted. This means there are more available routes for satellites in LEO, which is one of the reasons why LEO is a very commonly used orbit.
- Medium Earth orbit (MEO): Medium Earth orbit comprises a wide range of orbits anywhere between LEO and GEO. It is similar to LEO in that it also does not need to take specific paths around Earth, and it is used by a variety of satellites with many different applications.
- It is very commonly used by navigation satellites, like the European Galileo system (pictured). Galileo powers navigation communications across Europe, and is used for many types of navigation, from tracking large jumbo jets to getting directions to your smartphone. Galileo uses a constellation of multiple satellites to provide coverage across large parts of the world all at once.
- Polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO): Satellites in polar orbits usually travel past Earth from north to south rather than from west to east, passing roughly over Earth’s poles.
- Satellites in a polar orbit do not have to pass the North and South Pole precisely; even a deviation within 20 to 30 degrees is still classed as a polar orbit. Polar orbits are a type of low Earth orbit, as they are at low altitudes between 200 to 1000 km.
- Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) is a particular kind of polar orbit. Satellites in SSO, travelling over the polar regions, are synchronous with the Sun. This means they are synchronized to always be in the same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun. This means that the satellite always visits the same spot at the same local time – for example, passing the city of Paris every day at noon exactly.
- This means that the satellite will always observe a point on the Earth as if constantly at the same time of the day, which serves a number of applications; for example, it means that scientists and those who use the satellite images can compare how somewhere changes over time.
- Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO): Transfer orbits are a special kind of orbit used to get from one orbit to another. When satellites are launched from Earth and carried to space with launch vehicles such as Ariane 5, the satellites are not always placed directly on their final orbit. Often, the satellites are instead placed on a transfer orbit: an orbit where, by using relatively little energy from built-in motors, the satellite or spacecraft can move from one orbit to another.
- This allows a satellite to reach, for example, a high-altitude orbit like GEO without actually needing the launch vehicle to go all the way to this altitude, which would require more effort – this is like taking a shortcut. Reaching GEO in this way is an example of one of the most common transfer orbits, called the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
Uncontrolled re-entry of rocket
- In an uncontrolled re-entry, the rocket stage simply falls. Its path down is determined by its shape, angle of descent, air currents and other characteristics.
- It will also disintegrate as it falls. As the smaller pieces fan out, the potential radius of impact will increase on the ground.
- Some pieces burn up entirely while others don’t. But because of the speed at which they’re travelling, debris can be deadly.
- As per a 2021 report of the International Space Safety Foundation, an impact anywhere on an airliner with debris of mass above 300 grams would produce a catastrophic failure, meaning all people on board would be killed.
- Most rocket parts have landed in oceans principally because earth’s surface has more water than land. But many have dropped on land as well.
Potential risks related to unmanaged rocket re-entry into the Earth’s orbit
- There have been many instances in the past where rockets striking some parts on Earth.
- Russian rocket in 2018 and China’s Long March 5B rockets in 2020 and 2022 striking parts of Indonesia, Peru, India and Ivory Coast, among others.
- Parts of a SpaceX Falcon 9 that fell down in Indonesia in 2016 included two “refrigerator-sized fuel tanks”.
- If re-entering stages still hold fuel, atmospheric and terrestrial chemical contamination is another risk.
- It is estimated that casualty risk from uncontrolled rocket body re-entries will be of order of 10% in the next decade” and that countries in the ‘Global South’ face a “disproportionately higher” risk of casualties.
- The U.S. Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices (ODMSP) require all launches to keep the chance of a casualty from a re-entering body to be below 0.01%.
- There is no international binding agreement to ensure rocket stages always perform controlled re-entries nor on the technologies with which to do so.
- The Liability Convention 1972 requires countries to pay for damages, not prevent them.
- These technologies include wing-like attachments, de-orbiting brakes, and extra fuel on the re-entering body, and design changes that minimize debris formation.
Conclusion
However, the risks can be avoided with the current technology, where engines can reignite to guide a rocket to remote areas of an ocean. However, this involves extra cost, and there are no multilateral agreements that can mandate companies to make these changes, according to Michael Byers. The researchers argue for a collective decision by governments to stipulate that rockets are guided back to the Earth safely after they are used for launches into the space.
General Studies – 4
Topic: Philosophical basis of governance and probity
6. What are the key characteristics of ethical governance? Explain with examples. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Conceptual Tuesdays’ in Mission-2023 Secure.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the attributes of ethical governance.
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the context. You must be defining key terms wherever appropriate and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining ethical governance.
Body:
Write about the various attributes of ethical governance – ethical leadership, transparency and accountability, compliance with laws and regulations, stakeholder engagement, ethical codes and policies, risk management, and continuous improvement. Cite examples to substantiate.
Conclusion:
Conclude by summarising.
Introduction
The World Bank defines governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development
According to the United Nations Development Programme, Governance has been defined as the rules of the political system to solve conflicts between actors and adopt decision (legality). It has also been used to describe the “proper functioning of institutions and their acceptance by the public” (legitimacy). And it has been used to invoke the efficacy of government and the achievement of consensus by democratic means (participation)
Ethical governance meant that the manner in which power is exercised for an organisation by using its resources, including social and economic, is acceptable by all. It could range from personal rights to effective service delivery for all.
Body
Ethical governance is the right and justified conduct of activities of an organization (or government) to serve the larger public interest. Impartiality, accountability, transparency, honesty, integrity, probity, perseverance, truthfulness, citizen centricity, patriotism among other are some of the values which are must for attainment of ethical governance.
Major Features of Ethical Governance:
Participation
- Good Governance truly promotes inclusive democracy allowing Right to Freedom.
- Promote Citizen centric governance
Transparency
- Easy accessible available affordable information
- Promote accountable government
Rule of Law
- Rule of law warrants that fair legal frameworks are implemented impartially.
- It also means protection of human rights.
Responsiveness
- This implies that processes and institutions should serve all stakeholders within a reasonable time frame.
Consensus oriented
- Consensus oriented decision-making ensures that even if everyone does not achieve what they want to the fullest, a common minimum can be achieved by everyone which will not be detrimental to anyone.
Accountability
- Accountability should be there not just for the government, but also for citizens, the private sector, industry, NGOs, and all stakeholders.
Conclusion
Hence, governance shall be good as well as ethical to promote citizen centric participatory inclusive equitable development among all.
Topic: corporate governance.
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Conceptual Tuesdays’ in Mission-2023 Secure.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about shortcomings of corporate governance in India.
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 corporate governance.
Body:
Write about the various limitations and shortcomings of corporate governance – frequent scams, lack of transparency, absences of accountability, corruption etc. Give recent examples like Yes bank, NSE scam.
Suggest steps to overcome the above.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
Corporate governance is the system of rules, practices, and processes by which a firm is directed and controlled. Corporate governance involves balancing the interests of a company’s stakeholders such as shareholders, senior management executives, customers, suppliers, financiers, the government, and the community.
In recent times, the issues of fraud in ICICI bank, YES bank, Adani group and so on are case in point.
Body
Corporate governance establishes the relationship, among various primary participants of the firms those are shareholders, directors, and managers, in formulating the directions and performance of their firms. In a broader sense, it delineates the rights and responsibilities of each primary stakeholder and the design of institutions and mechanisms that induce or control board directors and management to best serve the economic interests of shareholders along with safeguarding the interest of other stakeholders of a firm.
A company’s corporate governance is important to investors since it shows a company’s direction and business integrity. Good corporate governance helps companies build trust with investors and the community. As a result, corporate governance helps promote financial viability by creating a long-term investment opportunity for market participants.
Communicating a firm’s corporate governance is a key component of community and investor relations. Example, On Apple Inc.’s investor relations site, for example, the firm outlines its corporate leadership—its executive team, its board of directors—and its corporate governance, including its committee charters and governance documents, such as bylaws, stock ownership guidelines and articles of incorporation.
Most companies strive to have a high level of corporate governance. For many shareholders, it is not enough for a company to merely be profitable; it also needs to demonstrate good corporate citizenship through environmental awareness, ethical behavior, and sound corporate governance practices. Good corporate governance creates a transparent set of rules and controls in which shareholders, directors, and officers have aligned incentives.
Issues in corporate governance
- Conflict of Interest: The challenge of managers potentially enriching themselves at the cost of shareholdersg. Recent case of former ICICI bank head Chanda Kochar approved a loan to Videocon for a quid pro quo deal for her husband.
- Weak Board: Lack of diversity of experience and background represents a major area of weakness for these boards. There have been questions about board performing in the larger interests of the shareholders. In case of IL&FS, not a single red flag was raised by any board member.
- Separation of ownership and management: In case of family-run companies, the separation of ownership and management remains a key challenge in majority of companies including some of India’s top ones.
- Independent directors: Independent directors are partisan and are not able to check promoters unethical practices.
- Executive Compensation: Executive compensation is a contentious issue especially when subject to shareholder’s accountability. Executive compensation needs to stand the test of stakeholders’ scrutiny.
- Concentration of powers: Ownership of corporations in India, is still held in a few hands. A single shareholder or family controls a large group of companies. This leads to several governance related challenges and has often led to poor decision making that harms company’s profits.
- Board directors: Independent directors were supposed to be the biggest corporate governance reform. However, they have hardly been able to make the desired impact due to the passive role played by them on board. The frequent removal of directors by promoters of the company is an issue. This has not been addressed effectively yet, despite the strengthening of the regulations regarding independent directors.
- No Proper Structure: Corporate Governance has no proper structure or design and is largely ambiguous. There is still a lack of awareness about various issues like compliance with rules and regulations, roles and responsibilities of Board of Directories, shareholder’s rights, etc. This leads to poor governance and impacts the working of companies.
- Insider Trading: Corporate insiders like officers, directors and employees by the virtue of their position have access to confidential information. Many misappropriate that information to reap profits. SEBI lacks the thorough investigative mechanism and a vigilant approach due to which the culprits are able to escape. In most of the cases, SEBI failed to produce evidence and corroborate its stance before the court.
- Noncompliance with disclosure norms: Noncompliance with disclosure norms is common in Indian businesses with hardly any punitive action. While the Companies Act provides clear instructions for maintaining and updating registers, in reality minority shareholders have often suffered from irregularities in share transfers.
- Family-owned business: Many Indian businesses are old family establishments. With the growth of family and its business, there is an increase in inefficiencies and internal conflicts that threaten the continuity of the business. Family control also brings governance problems like a lack of checks and balances over executive decision making and a lack of transparent reporting.
Measures and way forward
- Implement the recommendations of Uday Kotak Panel, such as:
- Minimum 6 directors to be on board of listed entities; every listed entity to have at least 1 independent woman director
- More transparency on appointment of independent directors and should play a more active role on the boards.
- Audit Committee must review use of loans/adv/ investment by holding co in arm over Rs 100 crore.
- Diverse boards are better boards: In this context, ‘diverse’ is all-encompassing, including gender, ethnicity, skills and experience.
- Robust risk management policies: Adoption of effective and robust risk management policies for better decision making as it develops a deeper insight into the risk-reward trade-offs that all Corporations face.
- Effective governance infrastructure: Policies and procedures which guide ethical behaviour should form the base of any organizational behaviour. Ensure separation of the line of responsibility between board and management.
- Evaluation of the Board’s performance: The Board should consider addressing weaknesses uncovered in board evaluations, enhancing their governance processes.
- Communication: Facilitating shareholder communication with the board is key. There is a need to provide a contact person with whom shareholders may discuss any issue.
- Responsibilities of the Board: The corporate governance framework should ensure the effective monitoring by the board and the board’s accountability to the company and the shareholders.
- Objective performance evaluation: Privileges and compensation of executive directors should be based on an objective performance evaluation process conducted by the board.
- Enhancing objectivity: A code of conduct and code of corporate governance should be put in place in order to dictate desired behaviour.
- Relations with Shareholders: The board should be responsible for ensuring that an appropriate dialogue takes place among the organisation and its shareholders. The corporate governance framework should ensure the equitable treatment of all shareholders, including minority and foreign shareholders.
- Effective internal audit function: An effective audit mechanism should be in place to prevent insider trading. Both the board and the management should establish formal and transparent arrangements to appoint and maintain an appropriate relationship with the organisation’s auditors.
- Transparency: The corporate governance framework should ensure that timely and accurate disclosure is made on all material matters regarding the corporation, including the financial situation, performance, ownership, and governance of the company.
Conclusion
Corporate governance is very essential for overall growth of the companies. Ethical culture can be regarded as the insurance for successful business. So for good corporate governance ethics is essential. It is every company’s moral duty to implement the ethical codes in their business.
Corporate governance is a system that aims to instill policies and rules that helps maintain the cohesiveness of an organization. It exists to help hold a company accountable, while helping them steer clear of financial, legal, and ethical pitfalls while addressing conflict of interests at various levels. The importance of corporate governance is made abundantly clear by the direct benefits seen when a good corporate governance framework is in place.
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