NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
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.
1. What are reasons for the ‘great droughts’ witnessed across some parts of the world such as Europe, China and the U.S? Evaluate its short term and long-term impact. (250 words)
After the record-breaking summer heat, 2022 may be the worst drought year in Europe in 500 years. China, US too are facing drought
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the reasons for drought across some parts of the world and its impact.
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.
First, write about the reasons behind the onset of the severe droughts across world – heat waves, erratic rainfall, climate change etc.
Next, write about the short-term impact of these great droughts.
Next, write about the long-term impact of these great droughts.
Next, write about the mitigating measures that are needed to offset the impact of these droughts.
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world. It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage. Drought can have a serious impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment.
Legendary rivers have been reduced to shallow streams, hitting power generation. After the record-breaking summer heat, 2022 may be the worst drought year in Europe in 500 years. China, US too are facing drought. According to the most recent assessment from the Global Drought Observatory, Europe’s soil has dried up across 47% of the continent. Another 17% of the vegetation is “on alert,” which means it “shows indications of stress.”
The economies of both Europe and the U.S. remain firmly bonded to fossil-fuel consumption. While Europe has been more vocal about cutting down emissions and has sought to invest heavily in renewables, this shift has been disrupted by the Ukraine war. World leaders face a clear choice, it is either collective action or collective suicide.
2. Education and health are foundational aspects of every society. Equitable access to high-quality education and healthcare is an essential precondition for social empowerment. Discuss. (250 words)
To create the foundation for the next century, we need to invest in education and health in the next 25 years — not just for the elite, but for all.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the need of equitable access to high-quality education and healthcare for social empowerment and ways to do.
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.
First, write about the role of education in social empowerment and how it ensures breakdown of caste, religious and gender barriers. Cite statistics.
Next, write about the role of health in social empowerment and how it ensures breakdown of caste, religious and gender barriers. Cite statistics.
Next, write about the barriers which prevent access to high-quality education and healthcare.
Next, write about the steps that are needed to overcome such barriers.
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Education and health are foundational to every society. Ensuring top quality and a proper delivery of public goods like education and healthcare is one area where successive governments have underperformed in India. However, there are examples of India’s capabilities in these areas which are easy to find. Indian education produces global CEOs and Indian private healthcare systems have been providing services to medical tourists from many parts of the world.
Challenges to ensure Equitable access to high-quality education and healthcare:
A differential planning approach is needed:
A multi-pronged approach is imperative to ensure social empowerment. There is also a need to engage with the youth and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship. The demographic dividend offers them a unique opportunity to boost living standards, but they must act now to manage their older populations in the near future by implementing policies that ensure a safe and efficient transition from the first demographic dividend to the second demographic dividend.
Topic: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
3. Since they impose no legal obligations on the State, the critics denounce the Directive Principles of State Policy as mere pious superfluities or political manifestoes devoid of any constitutional importance. Examine. (250 words)
Reference: Insights on India , Insights on India
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 2 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the nature and importance of DPSPs to the Indian constitution and the state.
Brief on Directive Principles of State Policy, Articles related and Schedule.
First, write about the purpose behind having DPSPs in the constitution. Mention the significance of DPSPs highlighting their characteristics.
Further, mention their utility and sanctions, as a part of Indian Constitution. Then, mention the criticism to address the demand of the question.
Conclude by giving a balanced opinion on the nature of DPSPs.
The Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs) are enumerated in Part IV of the Constitution from Articles 36 to 51. Dr B R Ambedkar described these principles as ‘novel features’ of the Indian Constitution. The Directive Principles along with the Fundamental Rights contain the philosophy of the Constitution and is the soul of the Constitution.
DPSPs are mere pious superfluities or political manifestoes devoid of any constitutional importance
Directive Principles have their importance
Significance of DPSP’s as upheld by Supreme court
Therefore, the present position is that the Fundamental Rights enjoy supremacy over the Directive Principles. Yet, this does not mean that the Directive Principles cannot be implemented. The Parliament can amend the Fundamental Rights for implementing the Directive Principles, so long as the amendment does not damage or destroy the basic structure of the Constitution.
Topic: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
4. Do you think there is a need to legally enforce and implement at least some of the fundamental duties? Critically Analyse. (250 words)
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 2 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about whether or not fundamental duties should be enforced.
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.
Begin by giving brief about Article 51 and Part IV-A of the constitution.
In the first part, write about the rationale behind enactment of article 51, its aims and objectives that it strives to achieve.
Next, write about the advantages of enforcing certain fundamental duties – greater unity, spirit of fraternity etc
Next, wite about drawbacks of enforcing fundamental duties – lack of enforcing mechanism, additional burden on governance etc.
Conclude by writing a way forward.
In 1976, the Congress Party set up the Sardar Swaran Singh Committee to make recommendations about fundamental duties, the need and necessity of which was felt during the operation of the internal emergency (1975–1977). The committee recommended the inclusion of a separate chapter on fundamental duties in the Constitution.
Government enacted the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1976. This amendment added a new part, namely, Part IVA to the Constitution. This new part consists of only one Article, that is, Article 51A which for the first time specified a code of ten fundamental duties of the citizens.
Need for enforcing fundamental duties
Drawbacks of enforcing fundamental duties
The inclusion of fundamental duties has helped to strengthen democracy. The moral value of fundamental duties would be not to smother rights but to establish a democratic balance by making the people conscious of their duties equally as they are conscious of their rights’. The provisions for enforcement of fundamental duties should be made considering the multiculturalism and pluralism of India.
Topic: basics of cyber security
5. On the one hand, the 5G roll-out is set to enhance efficiency, productivity, and security. On the other hand, the cyber vulnerabilities of 5G technology pose a huge challenge to its successful implementation. Analyse. (250 words)
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced that 5G deployment in India will commence sooner than expected. Reports suggest that the government will launch 5G at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress on September 29. The long-awaited upgrade from 4G to 5G will allow ultra-fast Internet speeds and seamless connectivity across the country compared to 4G. The implications of the 5G roll-out could be significant, particularly for law enforcement in India.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the advantages associate with 5G and cybersecurity challenges associated with it and ways to overcome them.
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.
Begin by giving context the roll out of 5G tech in India.
First, write about the advantages offered by 5G tech to enhance efficiency, productivity, and security. Substantiate with facts and examples.
Next, write the potential cybersecurity challenges with the introduction of 5G- susceptible to cyber threats such as botnet attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) overloads. Besides, as 5G lacks end-to-end encryption, hackers can plot their attacks more precisely and perpetrate cybercrimes by hacking into systems or disseminating illegal content.
Next, write about the steps that are needed to overcome the above challenges.
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced that 5G deployment in India will commence sooner than expected. Reports suggest that the government will launch 5G at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress on September 29. The long-awaited upgrade from 4G to 5G will allow ultra-fast Internet speeds and seamless connectivity across the country compared to 4G. The implications of the 5G roll-out could be significant, particularly for law enforcement in India.
Issues with roll out of 5G
The shift from 4G to 5G is not incremental, but transformational. Skipping of 5G is not a choice India can afford. The economic impact of 5G in India is expected to be over $1 trillion by 2035 according to the report of KPMG. The Sooner the deployment of 5G in India is the better for India. India has to work on Indigenous 5G technology. This will also help bring down the cost of 5G technology and benefit the end users especially addressing the security and privacy risks.
Topic: Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators;
6. What does this quote means to you? (150 words)
“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.” ― Henry David Thoreau
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Quotes Wednesdays’ in Mission-2023 Secure.
Begin by explaining the literal meaning of the quote.
Write about the need to be moral and being moral for a just cause. Write about the importance of not just being moral but taking a stand against injustices and standing up for a cause. Substantiate with facts and examples.
Summarise by highlighting the importance of the quote in the present day.
The above quote talks about how one needs to be aware of his ignorance. Real knowledge — according to the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius — is knowing the extent of your own ignorance. The more aware and accepting you are of that which you don’t know, the wiser you become.
We all know a lot of different things, and many of us can recognize some of the things we don’t know, but have you ever thought about everything you don’t even know you don’t know? Many of us haven’t, which makes us ignorant of our own ignorance.
We know we don’t know quantum physics, how to fly an airplane, or how to speak Cantonese. These are known unknowns — all of the things we recognize we don’t know. This so-called knowledge territory consists of everything we don’t even know we don’t know. We would provide examples here, but we can’t because we are ignorant of them. This territory is the unknown unknown, and it is big. There is an unquantifiable amount of unknown unknowns, but the more aware of it you are, the more real knowledge you possess. To be clear, it is impossible to be aware of what you don’t know you don’t know.
Even great thinkers like Socrates admitted ignorance. What set him apart from others of his time is that he was aware of what he lacked, and he sought more wisdom because of it. The only way around the unknown is through it.
No matter how knowledgeable we are, we all inevitably have things that we don’t know. That is what it means to be human. We have limits. And knowing when we don’t know something is far more powerful, and knowledgeable, than the more emotionally immature attitude of thinking that we know it all.
Thus, the mark of an intelligent person would be know where his wisdom ends and his ignorance begins. It doesn’t feign well to brag that a person is very intelligent and knows everything about everything.
To borrow a phrase from one of Exploratory Leaders, Seth Godin, it’s your turn. It’s your turn to recognize there is a universe of knowledge you aren’t aware of. Only once you understand this can you begin to navigate your own unknowns.
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