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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.
General Studies – 1
Topic: The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum Publishers.
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 1 and mentioned as part of Mission-2022 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about contributions of Moderates and the role played by them in India’s struggle for independence.
Directive word:
Elaborate – Give 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:
Write about how Moderate phase marked the beginning organised struggle in freedom movement.
Body:
Elaborate upon their contributions of economic critique of nationalism, explain in detail the role of moderate in laying foundations for India’s struggle for Independence, spreading nationalism to far and wide and protecting the nascent Indian National Congress from any serious repercussions of the British.
Conclusion:
Summarise the legacy of moderates.
Introduction
The moderates contributed significantly in Indian freedom struggle. The main objective of the Moderates was to achieve self-government within the British Empire. They followed a middle path and not an extreme path against British Empire.
Body
Contributions of Moderate Nationalists:
- The moderates led by Dadabhai Naoroji, R.C. Dutt, Dinshaw Wacha and others, analysed the political economy of British rule in India, and put forward the “drain theory” to explain British exploitation of India.
- Moderates were able to create an all-India public opinion that British rule in India was the major cause of India’s poverty and economic backwardness. The moderates demanded reduction in land revenue, abolition of salt tax, improvement in working conditions of plantation labour, etc.
- They helped in expansion of council’s i.e. greater participation of Indians in councils and helped in reform of councils i.e. more powers to councils, especially greater control over finances.
- The early nationalists worked with the long-term objective of a democratic self-government.
- They campaigned for General Administrative Reforms. They demanded and put pressure on British Empire on Indianisation of government service on the economic grounds.
- They asked and contributed in Separation of judicial from executive functions.
- They criticised:
- Oppressive and tyrannical bureaucracy and an expensive and time-consuming judicial system.
- Aggressive foreign policy which resulted in annexation of Burma, attack on Afghanistan and suppression of tribals in the North-West.
- Increase in expenditure on welfare, education, especially elementary and technical, irrigation works and improvement of agriculture, agricultural banks for cultivators etc.
- They fought for civil rights including the right to speech, thought, association and a free press. Through campaigns, the nationalists were able to spread modern democratic ideas, and soon the defence of civil rights became an integral part of the freedom struggle.
Conclusion
The nationalists were, thus, able to build a national movement while undermining the political and moral influence of imperialist rule. This helped in generating anti-imperialist sentiments among the public. But, at the same time, the nationalists failed to widen the democratic base of the movement by not including the masses, especially women, and not demanding the right to vote for all.
Value Addition:
Methods employed by the Moderates:
- In order to achieve their aim, they made several demands for reform and indulged in criticising the Government policies.
- They believed in patience and reconciliation rather than in violence and confrontation.
- They relied on constitutional and peaceful methods in order to achieve their aim.
- They focus on educating people, arousing their political consciousness and creating a public opinion, which.
- In order to create public opinion in England, the Moderates arranged lectures in different parts of England. A weekly journal called India was published in England for circulation among the British population.
- Moderates used different types of newspaper and chronicles to criticise the government policies through newspaper like Bengali newspaper, Bombay chronicle, Hindustan Times, Induprakash, Rast Goftar and a weekly journal India.
- They also asked the Government to conduct an enquiry and find ways and means to solve the problems faced by people.
- They held meeting and held discussions concerning social, economic and cultural matters. The moderates organized meetings at various places like England, Mumbai, Allahabad, Pune, and Calcutta.
- They drafted and submitted memorandum and petitions to the government, to the officials of the Government of India and also to the British Parliament. The object of the memorandum and petitions was to enlighten the British public and political leaders about the conditions prevailing in India.
Topic: History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 1 and mentioned as part of Mission-2022 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To explain in what way the Russian revolution is regarded as the turning point in the history of the biggest country in the world, how it predisposed World war I and in return how world war I influenced the revolution in Russia.
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:
Write about the outbreak of Russian revolution during the course of World War-I.
Body:
In the first part, mention the causes of the Russian Revolution – Political, Administrative, Economic and ideological – Link how the world war exacerbated these causes which made the revolution inevitable.
Next, write about the impact of Russian Revolution.
Conclusion:
Summarise that chain of events led to the collapse of monarchy in Russia and marked the demise of Romanov dynasty.
Introduction
In 1913, Tsar Nicholas II celebrated the tercentenary of Romanov rule in Russia. He and his dynasty ruled over a huge empire, stretching from central Europe to the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic to the borders of Afghanistan.
Just five years after the celebrations, Nicholas and his family would be dead, executed by the Bolsheviks, while his empire would be defeated in the World War and wracked by revolutions, civil wars and foreign interventions.
Body
World War I fuelled the Russian revolution
During the war: 1914-1916
- At Tannenberg and the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, in 1914, Russia lost two entire armies (over 250,000 men).
- This failed Russian advance into East Prussia did disrupt Germany’s Schlieffen Plan and thus probably prevented the fall of Paris, but it also signalled the beginning of an unrelenting Russian retreat on the northern sector of the Eastern Front.
- By the middle of 1915 all of Russian Poland and Lithuania, and most of Latvia, were overrun by the German army.
- Fortunately for the Russians, they did better in 1916. The supply of rifles and artillery shells to the Eastern Front was vastly improved, and in the Brusilov Offensive of June 1916, Russia achieved significant victories over the Austrians
- However, the country’s political and economic problems were greatly exacerbated by the war. Many factors – including the militarisation of industry and crises in food supply – threatened disaster on the home front.
- Added to this cocktail were rumours that the tsarina, Alexandra, and her favourite, the infamous Rasputin, were German spies.
- The rumours were unfounded, but by November 1916 influential critics of the regime were asking whether Russia’s misfortunes – including 1,700,000 military dead and 5,000,000 wounded – were a consequence of ‘stupidity or treason’.
1917: From February to October
- Food riots, demonstrations and a mutiny at the Petrograd Garrison in February 1917 forced Nicholas II to abdicate as war still continued.
- A Provisional Government led by liberals and moderate socialists was proclaimed, and its leaders hoped now to pursue the war more effectively.
- Real power in Russia after the February Revolution, however, lay with the socialist leaders of the Petrograd (later All-Russian) Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, who were elected by popular mandate (unlike the ministers of the Provisional Government).
- Against this background, the war minister Kerensky of the Provisional Government hoped to strengthen Russia’s hand with a new Russian offensive on the Eastern Front in June.
- Anarchist and Bolshevik agitators played their own part in destroying the Russian Army’s ability to fight.
- Many anti-war radicals, along with the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, were ferried home from exile in Switzerland in April 1917, courtesy of the German General Staff.
- The summer offensive was a disaster. Peasant soldiers deserted enmasse to join the revolution, and fraternisation with the enemy became common.
- Meanwhile, in an attempt to restore order and resist the German counter-offensive, most of the generals and forces of the political right threw their weight behind a plan for a military coup, under the Russian Army’s commander-in-chief, General Kornilov.
- The coup failed and the generals and the conservatives who had backed Kornilov felt betrayed by Kerensky
- The only winners were the Bolsheviks, with Lenin at their head, who were able to topple Kerensky and take power in the October Revolution of 1917- without significant resistance from either the government or the army.
Conclusion
Thus, we can see that the turn of events for a liberal rule from 1905 got entangled with the Russia’s entry into WW-1. The events in WW-1 inturn aggravated the Russian revolution.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
China’s President Xi Jinping said “national reunification by peaceful means” with Taiwan “will and can be realised”, speaking amid what Taiwan officials have called the worst tensions in four decades.
Key Demand of the question:
To explain the One-China Policy, the reasons for current conflict between Taiwan and China and role of U.S.A in it.
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 defining the One-China Policy which China hold sacrosanct in establishing diplomatic relations.
Body:
First, trace the development of One-China Policy – in the aftermath of Chinese revolution, the cold war era leading to geostrategic calculations.
Next, write about the present-day conflict between Taiwan and China – The rise of nationalism in Taiwan, their democratic political system etc and contrast it with China. Also, write about why Taiwan matter for China.
Next, write about the role played by U.S in this conflict between China and Taiwan.
Conclusion:
Conclude by stressing on the diplomatic resolution of tensions between China and Taiwan.
Introduction
The One-China policy refers to the policy or view that there is only one state called “China”, despite the existence of two governments that claim to be “China”. As a policy, this means that countries seeking diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC, Mainland China) must break official relations with the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) and vice versa. The One China policy is different from the “One China principle”, which is the principle that insists both Taiwan and mainland China are inalienable parts of a single “China”.
Body
The development of “One-China Policy”
- Taiwan is the unfinished business of China’s liberation under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949.
- The Guomindang (KMT) forces under Chiang Kai-shek lost the 1945-49 civil war to the CCP forces under Mao Zedong.
- Chiang retreated to the island of Taiwan and set up a regime that claimed authority over the whole of China and pledged to recover the mainland eventually.
Conflict of the civic nationalism of Taiwan with the Chinese Communist Party’s nationalist legitimacy
- The Guomindang (KMT) forces under Chiang Kai-shek lost the 1945-49 civil war to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949. forces under Mao Zedong.
- Chiang retreated to the island of Taiwan and set up a regime that claimed authority over the whole of China and pledged to recover the mainland eventually.
- The CCP in turn pledged to reclaim what it regarded as a “renegade” province and achieve the final reunification of China.
- Taiwan could not be occupied militarily by the newly established People’s Republic of China (PRC) as it became a military ally of the United States during the Korean War of 1950-53.
- This phase came to an end with the U.S. recognising the PRC as the legitimate government of China in 1979, ending its official relationship with Taiwan and abrogating its mutual defence treaty with the island.
- Taiwan business entities have invested heavily in mainland China and the two economies have become increasingly integrated.
- Between 1991 and 2020, the stock of Taiwanese capital invested in China reached U.S. $188.5 billion and bilateral trade in 2019 was U.S. $150 billion, about 15% of Taiwan’s GDP.
- By the same token, China is capable of inflicting acute economic pain on Taiwan through coercive policies if the island is seen to drift towards an independent status.
Role of USA
- The U.S. does not support a declaration of independence by Taiwan.
- It has gradually reversed the policy of avoiding official-level engagements with the Taiwan government.
- Successive governments have had on and off relations with Taiwan.
- S. defence personnel have been, unannounced, training with their Taiwanese counterparts for some time.
- Recently, a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine reportedly ran into an “unidentified object” while in the South China Sea.
Way forward:
- It is understandable that Taiwan is not the priority of India’s foreign policy as the present government is interested in big power diplomacy. But India should not neglect Taiwan at the cost of its national interests.
- Even as India launches its “Act East” policy and ambitious initiatives such as “Make in India”, it is time to highlight the importance of Taiwan for an emerging India and bring the India-Taiwan relationship into focus.
- As India becomes more and more important in Taiwan’s policy, it is time for Indian policy makers to review India’s Taiwan policy and fashion a new approach.
- Greater cooperation between India and Taiwan could prove critical in helping New Delhi and Taipei achieve their economic goals at home and their strategic aims in the region.
- It is time to acknowledge the importance of India-Taiwan relations. India should consider its own interests not the third party’s ones, when it thinks of developing relations with Taiwan or other countries.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
The monetary policy committee (MPC) kept the key lending rate, the repo rate, unchanged at 4 percent and retained the monetary stance as ‘accommodative’.
Key Demand of the question:
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 the answer by writing the aims and objectives of monetary policy committee.
Body:
In the first part, Discuss the concept of Inflation targeting first by Monetary Policy – Inflation control is a legitimate objective of economic policy given the correlation between inflation and macro-economic stability. Discuss the impact of inflation targeting.
Next, in relative to the above, mention the economic growth aspect of monetary policy, preventing slowdown in industrial activity, generating flow of credit etc. Write how the situation becomes more precarious as India recovers from the impact of the pandemic.
Conclusion:
Conclude by suggest measures to balance India’s developmental ambitions with macro-economic stability.
Introduction
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Central Bank in India (Reserve Bank of India), headed by its Governor, which is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within the specified target level. Monetary Policy Committee is defined in Section 2(iii)(cci) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and is constituted under Sub-section (1) of Section 45ZB of the same Act.
Body
Background
- The Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI kept the benchmark policy rates unchanged, and retained the accommodative stance in its October 2021 review.
- It’s important to remember that monetary policy these days is influenced by both local macroeconomic developments and the global monetary policy direction, with the former playing a dominant role.
Why MPC has to walk a tightrope?
- The three key issues—signals from the US Federal Reserve, narrowing the repo and reverse repo corridor, and reducing the quantum of surplus liquidity in the system
- The Fed rate, which is a short-term rate like the repo rate, is currently at the near-zero level. There is now a certainty of reversal of easy monetary policy globally, which means a tighter monetary policy in the near future.
- The emerging-markets, including India, have to prepare for the likely outflow of dollars and its impact in their financial markets.
- The difference or the corridor between the repo rate (4 per cent ) and reverse repo rate is currently at 65 basis points.
- In the post-Covid-19 period, the RBI had to widen the gap in order to discourage banks from parking surplus money with the central bank.
- The MPC mandate, however, is restricted to repo rate and doesn’t extend to the reverse repo rate.
- In the last two years, the RBI has moved from liquidity ‘deficit’ in the system to the ‘surplus’ mode to support the economy. There was a demand from the industry for an accommodative stance post the debacle of IL&FS.
- The monetary conditions were very tight some two years ago. The pandemic has further boosted the liquidity levels in the system as RBI came out with several schemes to infuse liquidity.
Way forward
- Domestic growth-inflation dynamics suggest that the RBI has little option but to remain more tolerant of persistent price pressures, and hope that these will eventually prove transitory because they have been primarily driven by supply shocks caused by the pandemic.
- Globally, the monetary policy environment is veering towards normalisation/tapering/interest-rate rise largely due to an upward surprise in inflation, or because some central banks feel the objectives of quantitative easing have been met.
- Central banks in advanced economies such as Norway, Korea and New Zealand have recently raised rates, while those in Australia, Sweden, and the UK have trimmed their asset purchases.
- Emerging countries, particularly those that follow inflation targeting, have started raising rates.
- The two systemically important central banks — the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) — view the current spike in inflation as fleeting and have communicated greater tolerance for it for a longer period.
Topic: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
Analysis of procurement and PDS data from 2020-21 highlights the stark divide. Government procurement of wheat and paddy in Bihar and West Bengal each account for just 2% of the national total, despite the fact that the latter is the country’s largest rice producer.
Key Demand of the question:
To understand the production and procurement pattern of food grains from different agrarian belts of the country.
Directive word:
Critically comment – 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 ‘comment’ is prefixed, we must express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving a highlight of the cultivation of food grains across the region.
Body:
Firstly, mention few facts regarding the pattern of government procurement of food grains as opposed to the local share of food grains being produced in that given region.
Next, mention its impact on famers, buffer stocks and overall food security aspects.
Next, mention the need for a policy of local procurement to a certain degree to ensure the livelihoods of the local farmers, manage storage and warehousing issues
Conclusion:
Conclude by saying that Agrarian reforms must take up an equitable approach in order to address the issues of farmers across all regions of the nation.
Introduction
The Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food security system which evolved as a system for distribution of food grains at affordable prices and management of emergency situations. It distributes subsidized food and non-food items to India’s poor. This scheme was launched in June 1947. It functions through a network of Fair Price Shops at a subsidized price on a recurring basis.
Body
Disparity in procurement of grains for PDS across regions of India
- The farmers in the Eastern Indian States, with densely populated rural areas, bear the double burden of low procurement as well as low prices in the open market.
- This is partly because grains procured in the northern and western States are dumped into the eastern region at subsidised rates via the public distribution system (PDS), a situation exacerbated by additional free grain distribution as COVID-19 relief.
- Government procurement of wheat and paddy in Bihar and West Bengal each account for just 2% of the national total, despite the fact that the latter is the country’s largest rice producer.
- On the other end of the spectrum, Punjab accounts for a whopping 27% of all procurement, and Haryana for 11%, while only being allocated 2% and 1% of grains under PDS respectively.
- Madhya Pradesh, which has seen a major increase in buying by the government over the last few years, now accounts for 16% of national procurement, and only 6% of PDS allocations.
- Reforms are needed in both procurement as well as PDS, to allow for more effective decentralised procurement, which will benefit both farmers and consumers in the region.
- Primacy should be given to ensuring that the functioning of FCI is streamlined and fast paced as per recommendations of the Shanta Kumar Committee.
- 100 lakh ton silo storage capacity must be created in the country. For this, RITES has been assigned the task of changing the silo model and they will give their recommendations in 90 days to FCI.
- At present, there are 3 types of labourers in FCI namely Departmental, Daily Payment System (DPS) and No work no pay workers along with contractual labour. Government of India is deliberating to finish the 3 different arrangements and bring all workers of FCI under a single, uniform system which will bring stability of tenure and secured wages for all.
- To improve the usage of Information Technology in FCI, a Human Resource Management System (HRMS) must be implemented.
Conclusion
When grain is procured locally, it helps the local farming community get fair prices, it cuts costs of storage and transport for the government, and it provides PDS beneficiaries with the kind of local variety of food grains they are most used to. The use of ICT to reduce the touch-points will further increase the efficiency of PDS.
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
The Delhi government, in a move to provide an alternative to stubble burning and combat air pollution, will on Monday start its campaign to use bio-decomposer solution on farmlands under its winter action plan.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the issues related to stubble burning and discuss the role bio-decomposers can play in tackling it.
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:
Explain what is stubble burning and the reasons why it is undertaken.
Body:
First, wite about the effects of the stubble burning on air quality in north India and it impact on health and ecosystem.
Next, policy measures that have been takin this regard so far and examine the effectiveness in addressing the problem.
Next, explain bio-decomposers, their functioning and efficacy in addressing the issue of stubble burning.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to tackling stubble burning holistically.
Introduction
Stubble Burning is a common practice followed by farmers to prepare fields for sowing of wheat in November as there is little time left between the harvesting of paddy and sowing of wheat. With wheat harvesting over in Punjab, the State has witnessed a spike in incidents of stubble burning against the last two years as several farmers continue to defy the ban on burning the crop residue. The ban and action against the people burning the crop residue is regulated under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Body:
Effects of Stubble Burning:
- Pollution: Open stubble burning emits large amounts of toxic pollutants in the atmosphere which contain harmful gases like methane (CH4), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile organic compound (VOC) and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. They may eventually cause smog.
- Soil Fertility: Burning husk on ground destroys the nutrients in the soil, making it less fertile.
- Heat Penetration: Heat generated by stubble burning penetrates into the soil, leading to the loss of moisture and useful microbes.
Potential of bio-decomposers
- Bio-decomposer is essentially a fungi-based liquid solution that can soften hard stubble to the extent that it can be easily mixed with soil in the field to act as compost.
- This would then rule out the need to burn the stubble, and also help in retaining the essential microbes and nutrients in soil that are otherwise damaged when the residue is burned.
- Improves the fertility and productivity of the soil as the stubble works as manure and compost for the crops and lesser fertiliser consumption is required in the future.
- It is an efficient and effective, cheaper, doable and practical technique to stop stubble burning.
- It is an eco-friendly and environmentally useful technology.
Way forward:
- Short term Solution:Giving farmers easy and affordable access to the machines which allow them to do smart straw management is the short term solution to the problem
- Dual Strategy: Both in-situ (in the field) and ex-situ (elsewhere) solutions need to be considered, apart from tackling the fundamental factors prompting the practice.
- Affordability of Government Measures:A key factor will be ensuring affordability of service for those hiring the machines; Haryana has reserved 70% of the machines at panchayats-run CHCs for small and marginal farmers, while Punjab has prioritised service to them.
- Utilizing Crop Stubble: Insteadof burning of the stubble, it can be used in different ways like cattle feed, compost manure, roofing in rural areas, biomass energy, mushroom cultivation, packing materials, fuel, paper, bio-ethanol and industrial production, etc.
- The long-term solutionhas to be crop diversification, away from paddy
Additional information:
Alternative solutions that can avoid Stubble Burning:
- Promote paddy straw-based power plants. It will also create employment opportunities.
- Incorporation of crop residues in the soil can improve soil moisture and help activate the growth of soil microorganisms for better plant growth.
- Convert the removed residues into enriched organic manure through composting.
- New opportunities for industrial use such as extraction of yeast protein can be explored through scientific research.
Supreme Court’s observations
- Incentives could be provided to those who are not burning the stubble and disincentives for those who continue the practice.
- The existing Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme must be so interpreted as to enable the States concerned to wholly or partly deny the benefit of MSP to those who continue to burn the crop residue.
- Chhattisgarh Model:
- An innovative experiment has been undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government by setting up gauthans.
- A gauthan is a dedicated five-acre plot, held in common by each village, where all the unused stubble is collected through parali daan (people’s donations) and is converted into organic fertiliser by mixing with cow dung and few natural enzymes.
- The scheme also generates employment among rural youth.
- The government supports the transportation of parali from the farm to the nearest gauthan.
- The state has successfully developed 2,000 gauthans.
Government’s initiatives:
- Union Government: Under a 100% centrally-funded scheme, machines that help farmers in in-situ management—by tilling the stubble back into the soil—were to be provided to individual farmers at 50% subsidy and to custom hiring centres (CHCs) at 80% subsidy.
- While Haryana has set up 2,879 CHCs so far and has provided nearly 16,000 straw-management machines, it has to set up 1,500 more and has to cover nearly as many panchayats it has reached so far.
- Similarly, Punjab, which has provided 50,815 machines so far, will need to set up 5,000 more CHCs—against 7,378 set up already—and reach 41% of its panchayats by October 2020.
General Studies – 4
Topic: Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: plato.stanford.edu
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Philosophical Mondays’ in Mission-2022 Secure.
Key Demand of the question:
To write the how Buddhist ethics help in shaping ones character.
Directive:
Explain – Give a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
In the introduction, given brief of major aspects of Buddhist ethics.
Body:
Explain the detail that Buddhism proposes a way of thinking about ethics based on the assumption that all sentient beings want to avoid pain. Thus, the Buddha teaches that an action is good if it leads to freedom from suffering.
Next, Mention the Do No Harm principle, Compassion, Justice and Accountability etc which the Buddhist philosophy emphasises.
Mention its application in daily life,
Conclusion:
Conclude by mentioning Buddhist moral claims of compassion and equality can contribute to the thinking of modern educational issues, such as peace education, ecological education
Introduction
Buddhism, represents a vast and rich intellectual tradition, tells us to purify our own minds and to develop lovingkindness and compassion for all beings. The various forms of Buddhism offer systematic frameworks for understanding the traits of character and types of actions that cause problems for ourselves and others, as well as those qualities and actions that help to heal the suffering of the world.
Body
Ideas of Buddhism which guides the method and action of cultivating one’s moral character:
- Believe in ‘Karma’: Human beings must believe in ‘Karma’ theory which has a cause and effect relationship.
- Serve the Sick: According to him, serving the sick means serving the God.
- Morality:He believed in two golden rules of Christianity i.e. principle of equality and the principle of reciprocity. It means we must behave or act in the way, we expect from others. As per Buddha all human beings are equal and we must follow moral and ethical values being good human beings.
- Mental Development: This is the only path which can strengthen and control our mind. Mental Development is possible by concentration and meditation. This will help in maintaining good mental health and conduct.
- Love: As per Buddha the end of hatred is to do love and compassion. We can conquer anger by love and affection to others.
- Harmony:He strived to maintain a balance and harmony between all living and non-living things in the universe in order to attain enlightenment.
- Spread of Peace: Human society can be peaceful by accepting this very aim of Buddha. Peace can be attained through the practice of non-violence, equally brotherhood and friendship.
- Self- Reliance – Human society and nation can be developed by self-power, unity and self- reliance. Unity got and grown by the strength of weapons is not last longing. True unity lies with courtesy and self-sacrifice.
- Patience and Calmness– One must have the ability to be calm and clear while facing various obstacles like delays, frustrations etc. Human beings should have ability to remain peaceful and abstain from anger during the time when other people try to harm them. With due patience, It is easy to control all unpleasant situations.
- Perseverance– It is the capability to utilize all of our energy into productive and constructive purpose which may benefit to all mankind.
- Self-Analysis– Self-analysis and self-observation is required for self-improvement. A little practice to improve ourselves is needed in every day of our life. Right practice will become our habit which ultimately becomes the part of our character.
Conclusion
To live is to act, and our actions can have either harmful or beneficial consequences for oneself and others. Buddhist ethics is concerned with the principles and practices that help one to act in ways that help rather than harm. The core ethical code of Buddhism is known as the five precepts, and these are the distillation of its ethical principles. The precepts are not rules or commandments, but ‘principles of training’, which are undertaken freely and need to be put into practice with intelligence and sensitivity.
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