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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: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, an iconic social reformer and founder of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which has completed 100 years, was born on October 17, 1817.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the reformist contributions of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to modern India.
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:
Write about how the Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was torch bearer of reforms of late 19th century among the Muslim community.
Body:
In the first part, write in detail about the contributions to Modern Education and step taken by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in this regard.
Next, enumerate the steps taken by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to work towards Hindu-Muslim Unity.
Conclusion:
Conclude by mentioning the impact of the above measures taken by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
Introduction
Sir Syed Ahmed khan was a teacher, politician, social reformer etc and founder of Aligarh Muslim university. He has often been criticised as the father of Two nation theory which led to the formation of two separate nations i.e. India and Pakistan. It is erroneously believed by some historians that the Hindu-Muslim divide in India was the by-product of the two-nation theory which supposedly had its origin in Sir Syed’s ideology.
Body
Social Reformer:
- He also pushed for social reforms and was a champion of democratic ideals and freedom of speech.
- He was against religious intolerance, ignorance and irrationalism. He denounced purdah, polygamy and easy divorce.
- Tahzebul Akhlaq(Social Reformer in English),a magazine founded by him, tried to awaken people’s consciousness on social and religious issues in a very expressive prose.
Educationist:
- Sir Syed is, first and foremost, known for his pioneering role in transforming the educational opportunities for Muslims.
- Sir Syed realised that Muslims could only make progress if they took to modern education. For this he started the Aligarh movement.
- In 1877, he founded the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College on the pattern of Oxford and Cambridge universities. The college later grew into Aligarh Muslim University.
Moderniser:
- His systemic movement aimed at reforming the social, political and educational aspects of the Muslim community.
- The Aligarh Movement helped in the Muslim revival. It gave them a common language— Urdu.
- The movement undertook to modernise Muslim’s education by adapting English as a medium of learning and western education rather than just focusing on traditional teachings.
- Sir Syed established the Scientific Society in 1864,in Aligarh to translate Western works into Indian languages to prepare the Muslims to accept Western education and to inculcate scientific temperament among the Muslims.
Conclusion:
Throughout his life, Syed Ahmad Khan remonstrated against the practices of purdah, polygamy, easy divorce and many other fallacies in his community. His main priority was advancement of modern western education, in Muslim society. He believed that his community can only enhance their status and progress when the Muslims accept western scientific knowledge and culture. In AD 1864, he established the Translation Society at Aligarh. It was later renamed the Scientific Society.
Value addition
Critical of National Movement:
- In his later years Sir Syed encouraged the Indian Muslims not to join the National Movement. He felt that education and not politics was needed by them.
- In a way he encouraged the forces of communalism and separatism at this stage.
Belief in multiculturalism:
- Sir Syed believed in a multiculturalism under which all cultural communities must be entitled to equal status under state.
- The view that people must be incorporated not merely as citizens but also members of distinct communities possessing multiple identities is one of the most cherished norms of liberal democratic traditions. This means rejection of “melting pot” and acceptance of “salad bowl” theory where integration rather than assimilation is the preferred choice.
- Thus, under Article 29of the Indian Constitution, distinct cultural communities are entitled to preservation of their distinct language, script and culture.
Topic: Salient features of world’s physical geography.
Difficulty level: Easy
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 write in detail about the geomorphological process of weathering.
Directive word:
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:
Start the answer by defining weathering.
Body:
In the first part, Types of weathering – chemical, biological, mechanical in detail and the process in which it happens.
Next, factors Influencing Weathering Processes – climate, rock type, slope orientation, vegetation etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude the answers by mentioning the significance of the weathering process.
Introduction
Weathering is defined as mechanical disintegration and chemical decomposition of rocks through the actions of various elements of weather and climate. As very little or no motion of materials takes place in weathering, it is an in-situ or on-site process.
It is an exogenic force, i.e. they derive their strength from the earth’s exterior or originate within the earth’s atmosphere. Their actions result in wearing down, hence known as land wearing force.
Body
- Chemical Weathering: basic process by which denudation occurs. Extremely slow and gradual decomposition of rocks due to exposure to air and water. Solution, Oxidation and Decomposition by Organic Acids are few processes.
- Physical or Mechanical weathering: physical disintegration of a rock by the actual prising apart of separate particles. Repeated temperature changes, repeated wetting and drying, Frost action and Biotic factors are processes.
various factors that affect the weathering process
- Different rock types weather at different rates.
- Certain types of rock are very resistant to weathering.
- Igneous rocks, especially intrusive igneous rocks such as granite, weather slowly because it is hard for water to penetrate them.
- Other types of rock, such as limestone, are easily weathered because they dissolve in weak acids.
- Rocks that resist weathering remain at the surface and form ridges or hills. Devil’s Tower in Wyoming is an igneous rock from beneath a volcano. As the surrounding fewer resistant rocks were worn away, the resistant center of the volcano remained behind.
- Different minerals also weather at different rates.
- Some minerals in a rock might completely dissolve in water but the more resistant minerals remain. In this case, the rock’s surface becomes pitted and rough.
- When a less resistant mineral dissolves, more resistant mineral grains are released from the rock.
Chemical weathering increases as:
- Temperature increases: Chemical reactions proceed more rapidly at higher temperatures. For each 10oC increase in average temperature, the rate of chemical reactions doubles.
- Precipitation increases: More water allows more chemical reactions. Since water participates in both mechanical and chemical weathering, more water strongly increases weathering.
Conclusion
The interaction of these constructive and destructive forces gives rise to great diversity of present day landforms.
Value addition
Significance of weathering
- Weathering is the first step in formation of soils.
- Weathering of rocks and deposits helps in the enrichment and concentrations of certain valuable ores of iron, manganese, aluminium, copper etc.
- Weathering helps in soil enrichment.
- Without weathering, the concentration of the same valuable material may not be sufficient and economically viable to exploit, process and refine. This is what is called enrichment.
Topic: Salient features of world’s physical geography.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: NCERT – fundamentals of physical Geography for Class 11
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 mass movements and the process of their occurrence. To write about the factors that cause landslides in India.
Directive word:
Evaluate – When you are asked to evaluate, you have to pass a sound judgement about the truth of the given statement in the question or the topic based on evidence. You must appraise the worth of the statement in question. There is scope for forming an opinion here.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin the answer by defining mass movement.
Body:
In the first part, enumerate the various types of mass movements – soil creep, Solifluction, slumping or sliding. In brief, write about the process which causes their occurrence.
Next, write about Landslides in India – risk factors, most prone areas, geomorphological climatic factors, anthropogenic factors, etc. Bring out its impact.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to deal with landslides.
Introduction
Mass wasting or Mass movement is the movement of weathered material down a slope due to gravitational forces. Mass movements are very active over weathered slopes rather than over unweathered slopes. Usual geographic agents like running water, glaciers, wind, waves etc do not have much role to play in mass movements, and it is the gravity, which is the main driving force.
It is an exogenic forces, i.e. they derive their strength from the earth’s exterior or originate within the earth’s atmosphere. Their actions result in wearing down, hence known as land wearing force.
Body
Mass wasting is of two types:
- Slow movements:
- Soil Creep: It occurs on moderate steep, soil-covered slopes (doesn’t need to be lubricated with water as in solifluction). The movement is extremely slow and imperceptible except through extended observation.
- Solifluction: It is the process of slow down slope flowing of soil mass or fine-grained rock debris saturated or lubricated with water. It can be said as a type of creep with lubricated water influences the movement. It mainly occurs in permafrost regions as the layers of ground water are occupied in between permanently frozen soil and rocks.
- Rapid movements:
- Earthflow: Movement of water-saturated clayey or silty earth materials down low angle terraces or hillsides is called earthflow.
- Mudflow: In the absence of vegetation and cover and with heavy rainfall, thick layers of weathered materials get saturated with water and either slow or rapidly flow down along definite channels is called as mudflow.
- Debris avalanche: It is more in humid regions with or without vegetation. It occurs in narrow tracks on sleep slopes and is similar to snow avalanche.
- Landslides (slumping or sliding): These are very rapid kinds of movement and occur when a large mass of soil or rock falls suddenly. Land-slides usually occur on steep slopes undercut by a river or the sea so that it falls by gravity. Slumping is particularly common where permeable debris or rock layers overlie impermeable strata such as clay. Water sinking through the permeable material is halted by the clay. The damp clay provides a smooth slippery surface over which the upper layers easily slide.
The contributing factors to landslides in India are:
- Natural causes
- Landslides are generally associated with natural calamities like earthquake, volcanic eruptions, floods, cloudburst, etc.
- Long spell of rainfall
- Loose soil cover and sloping terrain
- Anthropogenic causes
- Rapid urbanization and changes in land use patterns
- Rampant deforestation and mining activities like blasting and quarrying, etc.
- Increased industrialisation leading to climate change and weather disturbances
- Change in river flow due to construction of dams, barriers, etc.
- indiscriminate chopping down of trees.
- slash and burn cultivation technique called ‘JHUM,’
- fast paced road construction
- Ever increasing population, grazing, urbanization etc. has destroyed the dense natural evergreen forest cover.
Way Forward: Preparedness and Mitigation:
- Important preparatory strategies could involve monitoring and landslide prediction.
- The National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) Programme of the Geological Survey of India could help assess the vulnerability of the districts and this could allow the concerned states to plan accordingly.
- Installing early warning systems based on the monitoring of ground conditions like slope displacement, strain in soil and rocks, groundwater levels can help warn the residents and authorities of the risks.
- Landslide Education, Awareness and Capacity Building among the residents and the local administration must be an important preparation strategy.
- The district and state disaster management apparatus should be ready for intervention at a short notice.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
In December 2020, a Committee of Experts (CoE)) appointed by the Indian government to deliberate on data governance released its report on Non-Personal Data Governance Framework (NPD Framework).
Key Demand of the question:
To mention the features and also the lacunae of the NPD Framework.
Directive word:
Critically 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. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
With increased digitalisation, managing the growing complexities arising from the collection, control and movement of data across borders has become a prime concern for governments.
Body:
First, give an account of various entities defined under the framework such as Non Personal Data, Data Custodians, Data Businesses, Data Trustees and Non Personal Data Authority.
Next, mention the broad features of the framework and then highlight the lacunae in the scheme such as the very definition of NPD, failure to address the fine balance between Innovation and Competitiveness of the Data Businesses, as the framework suggests to make the meta-data public, etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude by giving some suggestive measures for a more robust framework based on the committee report.
Introduction
Non-personal data (NPD) refers to any set of data which does not contain personally identifiable information. This means that no individual or living person can be identified by looking at such data. For example, while order details collected by a food delivery service will have the name, age, gender, and other contact information of an individual, it will become non-personal data if the identifiers such as name and contact information are taken out. NPD includes anonymised data like climate trends collected by a weather app, or commuter patterns gathered by a cab aggregator.
Body
Need for a Non-Personal Data Governance Framework:
- Unlike personal data, which contains explicit information about a person’s name, age, gender, sexual orientation, biometrics and other genetic details, non-personal data is more likely to be in an anonymised form.
- Even when personal data has been anonymised, the possibility of harm to the original data principal exists as no anonymisation technique is perfect.
- Therefore, it is necessary to address privacy concerns arising from possible re-identification of anonymised personal data, to ensure no harm is caused due to such processing.
- For instance, non-personal data which is derived from sensitive personal data (such as health, caste or tribe) which bears a risk of re-identification or data which bears risk of collective harm to a group.
- However, in certain categories such as data related to national security or strategic interests such as locations of government laboratories or research facilities, even if provided in anonymised form can be dangerous.
- Though any data that cannot identify individuals is understood as NPD, this could cover a vast array of information, including companies’ intellectual property (IP) or confidential information.
- Non-personal data has economic value, which should be leveraged for the financial benefit of Indian companies.
- Aggregated data is a collective resource, which should be unlocked for better governance. Traffic patterns gathered by cab aggregators, for instance, can help in better traffic management.
- Besides the economic argument, there have been suggestions that data must be shared for good governance and planning.
- NITI Aayog’s AI strategy also suggested that corporates may be required to share data for social good.
Way forward
- The Gopalakrishnan committee for NPD was formed by India’s ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) in September 2020. The ministry’s circular highlighted both the economic and social aspects of the arguments.
- India needs an overarching policy framework for data governance rather than being blindsided by discrete uni-dimensional instrumentalities based on simple binaries that may lead to cracks and overlaps.
- Regulation must be clear, and concise to provide certainty to its market participants, and must demarcate roles and responsibilities of participants in the regulatory framework.
- In May 2019, the European Union came out with a regulation framework for the free flow of non-personal data in the European Union, in which it suggested that member states of the union would cooperate with each other when it came to data sharing.
- Such data, the EU had then ruled would be shared by member states without any hindrances, and that they must inform the “commission any draft act which introduces a new data localisation requirement or makes changes to an existing data localisation requirement”.
- The governance of NPD presents complex, new considerations that are distinct from the concerns relevant to personal data regulation. Given this complexity, the Government should consider holding a wide public consultation that will help bring different perspectives to the table.
General Studies – 3
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: Moderate
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
Embracing sustainable agriculture is seemingly the only way to improve farm incomes and nutrition security in a climate-changing world.
Key Demand of the question:
To bring out the interlinkage between climate change, farming , poverty alleviation and food security in India.
Directive word:
Comment– here we must express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by describing the vagaries of agriculture brought about by climate change such as higher ambient temperatures, less predictable rains, frequent droughts and cyclones.
Body:
Mention about the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) report that identified 16 sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs), that have improved farmers’ net income by reducing inputs costs and increasing crop diversification and also raised annual farm output. Government to support Outcome-based support for nutrition output of cultivation rather than input-based subsidies for fertilizers and power.
Conclusion:
Conclude by stating that climate smart farming definitely has an effect on poverty alleviation and food security of the nation.
Introduction
Agricultural production systems are facing increasing competition from other sectors for limited natural resources. The availability of these resources and their quality are also being affected by unsustainable management practices and changing climatic and weather conditions.
FAO defines Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as “agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, enhances resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes GHGs (mitigation) where possible, and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals
Body
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural production systems and food value chains so that they support sustainable development and can ensure food security under climate change.
Relevance of CSA:
- Increased productivity: Produce more food to improve food and nutrition security and boost the incomes of 75 percent of the world’s poor who live in rural areas and mainly rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
- Enhanced resilience: Reduce vulnerability to drought, pests, disease, and other shocks; and improve capacity to adapt and grow in the face of longer-term stresses like shortened seasons and erratic weather patterns.
- Reduced emissions: Pursue lower emissions for each calorie or kilo of food produced, avoid deforestation from agriculture and identify ways to suck carbon out of the atmosphere.
- The climate-smart agriculture approach seeks to reduce trade-offs and promote synergies to make crop and livestock systems, forestry, and fisheries and aquaculture more productive and more sustainable.
Challenges:
- With patchy rains, crop failures become common. There is hardly any greenery in many villages, making it difficult for farmers to even maintain cattle.
- Quick adaptation for new changes is hard, with farmers varying and mixing crops across seasons, along with heavy investments in borewells, tractors, and threshers.
- Because of continuous crop failures, farmers are increasingly abandoning their lands and heading to nearby towns to find work as laborers.
- Though India is fortunate to have the monsoon, it is also uniquely vulnerable to rising temperatures, with the country ranked 14th on the Global Climate Risk Index 2019.
- India has over 120 million hectares of land suffering from some form of degradation. This has consequences, especially for marginal farmers.
- According to one estimate, they may face a 24-58% decline in household income and 12-33% rise in household poverty through exacerbated droughts.
- With rain-fed agriculture practiced in over 67% of our total crop area, weather variability can lead to heavy costs, especially for coarse grains (which are mostly grown in rain-fed areas).
- A predicted 70% decline in summer rains by 2050 would devastate Indian agriculture.
- Within 80 years, our Kharif season could face a significant rise in average temperatures (0.7-3.3°C) with rainfall concomitantly impacted, and potentially leading to a 22% decline in wheat yield in the rabi season, while rice yield could decline by 15%.
Measures needed:
- Farmers, especially smallholder farmers, need advance warning of emergent weather conditions at a local level.
- Mobile telecommunication systems are increasingly cost-effective and an efficient way of delivering weather-based agro-advisories to farmers at a large scale.
- Radio (especially community radio), television, newspapers, folk media, and village level public address systems will also need to be used to bridge this “communication divide.”
- Weather-based agro-advisories must be locale-, crop-and farmer-specific; need to also recommend soil, water, and biodiversity conservation practices.
- Build adaptive capacities to climate variability and strengthen the sustainability of farming systems.
- On-site training and awareness campaigns, technology demonstrations, farmer-specialist interactions, and engagement with local governance bodies.
- Soil health and need-based irrigation management need to be addressed adequately.
- Closer collaboration between public, civil society, and private technology and financial service providers so that farmers get access to accurate information, and affordable technologies
Conclusion
Climate-smart agriculture is not a new agricultural system, nor a set of practices. It is an innovative approach for charting development pathways that can make the agriculture sectors more productive and sustainable and better able to contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Topic: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
Difficulty level: Moderate.
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has published a report with inputs from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India. Titled, 100% Renewable Energy by 2050, the report examines the possibilities of a near-100 percent renewable energy scenario for India by the middle of the century.
Key Demand of the question:
To discuss the various dimensions of Nuclear energy as a source of energy support in a regular manner.
Directive word:
Analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by mentioning the India’s Ambitious Nuclear Power Plan.
Body:
First, mention about the huge potential for growth, emission-free nature and consistent nature of nuclear energy production in contrast with wind and solar energy.
Next, evaluate the various factors for a running nuclear power plant such as land requirement, man power, financing, fuel enrichment and manufacturing needs etc.
Next, highlight the delays in rolling out the second stage of the nuclear fuel program. Technological problems arising in the process of commissioning the Pressurized Fast Breeder Reactor and the associated time and cost overruns.
Conclusion:
Conclude by stating that given the rising energy demand in the country, and India’s huge dependency on import of oil and gas, but also critical raw materials for the production of solar panels, indigenously developed nuclear power plants remain an important pillar of India’s energy independence.
Introduction
Nuclear Energy plays a critical role in achieving sustainable economic and social development. Modern civilization heavily depends on energy for daily activities. Energy is like a lifeline for the sustenance and progress of the entire world. Nuclear energy plays a vital role in the world economy by generating jobs, income and facilitating trade on a massive scale.
Expanded use of nuclear technologies offered immense potential to meet important development needs. In fact, to satisfy energy demands and to mitigate the threat of climate change — two of the 21st century’s greatest challenges — there are major opportunities for expansion of nuclear energy.
Body
Background:
- Bill Gates’ TerraPower, a nuclear company, has just announced an agreement with private funders and the State of Wyoming, U.S.
- The agreement involves establishment of its Natrium fast reactor demonstration project in the state of Wyoming.
- The project is carried out on the belief that small, factory-built, modular reactors will be cheaper and safer.
Potential of nuclear energy as a source of power:
- Thorium and Uranium reserves: India has vast reserves of Thorium that can fuel India’s nuclear energy provided appropriate technology. India’s thorium deposits, estimated at 360,000 tonnes, and natural uranium deposits at 70,000 tonnes. The country’s thorium reserves make up 25% of the global reserves.
- Energy poverty: Although India is the 3rdlargest producer of electricity, about 20 % of the population of the country does not have access to electricity today. The per capita consumption of electricity is very low at about 1,181 kWh per annum, about half of the world average and way below that of advanced countries. There exist shortages in energy and peak power in the range 10-15%.
- Energy demand:Nuclear energy is a critical part for India’s future energy security. As we know India’s annual energy demand is expected to rise to 800 GW by 2032, it is very important to consider every source of energy in the optimum energy mix.
- Energy efficiency: Quantities of nuclear fuel needed are considerably less than thermal power plants. For instance, 10000 MW generation by coal will need 30-35 million tons of coal, but nuclear fuel needed will be only 300-350 tons.
- Economic growth:Rapid economic growth is also critical to achieve developmental objectives and poverty alleviation. A sustained economic growth of about 8 to 10% is needed over the next few decades. As electricity is a key driver for economic growth, it is necessary that there is a massive augmentation in electricity capacity, apart from transmissions and distribution systems.
- Decrease in Energy Supply:Energy supply has been negatively affected by changing weather patterns. As water reservoirs decreases due to lower precipitation and increased evaporation, capacity for electricity production from hydropower and other water-intensive generation technologies may decline.
- Climate change:Due to its emission-free nature, nuclear energy can contribute to global efforts under the Paris Agreement. India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has outlined goals to reduce the carbon emissions intensity of its economy by 33-35% by 2030 as well as increase the clean energy electricity capacity to 40% of the total installed capacity in the same period.
Challenges of mainstreaming nuclear energy as a source of power:
- The companies chasing space tourism dollars have drawn criticism for catering to the rich while so many are struggling amid the pandemic.
- In the case of Nuclear Reactors, there is a concern over their safety. The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan is a testimony to the havoc that can be created by a nuclear leak.
- Pursuant to this, the nuclear industry came to a standstill except in Russia, China and India. However, a revival was seen with global warming becoming ever more apparent.
- The commercial nuclear supply can lead to proliferation of Nuclear weapons. The fast breeder reactors have a risk of the turning of inert uranium to plutonium, and then using the plutonium as fuel. However, plutonium is a nuclear explosive which can be used for developing a bomb.
- The recent reports that China is building two more fast reactors have immediately provoked international concerns about China’s possible weapons plutonium production.
- The opponents of TerraPower believe that China will be encouraged in its efforts to develop fast breeder reactors and may even want to buy them from Mr. Gates.
- Furthermore, in some major markets, nuclear power lacks a favourable policy and financing frameworkthat recognise its contributions to climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
- Without such a framework, nuclear power may struggle to deliver on its full potential, even as the world remains as dependent on fossil fuels as it was three decades ago.
- Nuclear power generation is not as clean as it is often considered. This is demonstrated in the case of Kudankulam. People have been protesting for decades as they worry that the hot water dispatched from the plant will affect the marine life of the surrounding water sources and subsequently their livelihood.
- To build nuclear reactors, it requires huge amounts of land. This would displace local communities who may not want to leave. Further, it is not easy to rehabilitate them and provide them with appropriate compensation.
Conclusion
Nuclear power can help to improve energy security. For a rapidly developing economy such as India, it can make a vitally important contribution to growth. Besides, nuclear power can also reduce the impact of volatile fossil fuel prices and mitigate the effects of climate change. India needs to come up with a durable energy strategy to meet present and future energy demands of its population and industries.
General Studies – 1
Topic: Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections.
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 have a good understanding of Tolerance and various methods to achieve it in the society.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving a holistic definition of Tolerance
Body:
Elaborate on the various factors such as role of critical thinking, Ethical reasoning, laws, education, social conditioning, access to information, Individual awareness etc that play a crucial role in developing the attribute of Tolerance in Individuals.
Conclusion:
Summarise the above points and reiterate that Tolerance is one of the fundamental building block for a cohesive society.
Introduction
Tolerance is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live and let others live. It is the ability to exercise a fair and objective attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, nationality, and so on differ from one’s own. As William Ury notes, “tolerance is not just agreeing with one another or remaining indifferent in the face of injustice, but rather showing respect for the essential humanity in every person.
Body
Tolerance is the positive and cordial effort to understand another’s beliefs, practices, and habits without necessarily sharing or accepting them.
Intolerance is the failure to appreciate and respect the practices, opinions and beliefs of another group. For instance, there is a high degree of intolerance between Israeli Jews and Palestinians who are at odds over issues of identity, security, self-determination, statehood, the right of return for refugees, the status of Jerusalem and many other issues. The result is continuing intergroup conflict and violence.
Various ways of countering Intolerance are
- Empathizing with others means comprehending, listening, caring and understanding. That is, step into the shoes of another and try to understand their reality so as not to judge them immediately.
- By cultivating an open mind, learning about other cultures and people, and broadening our horizons, we increase our ability to understand and accept others.
- One needs to be clear that everyone has their own opinions and values and that these need to be respected and accepted.
- Staying calm and remaining peaceful at all times without getting angry is the next step towards being more tolerant.
- Putting things into perspective and focusing on the real importance of the source of intolerance is a good technique to find the courage to handle situations tolerantly.
- Education is crucial in countering intolerance and negative stereotyping of various sections of people in the society.
- Teachers play an important role in transferring knowledge and skills to younger generations about respecting people from different backgrounds, religions and beliefs.
- Teaching children about tolerance is the best gift that you can give them. Children shouldn’t grow up with feelings of hate and suspicion.
Conclusion:
The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Being tolerant of each other and caring for each other is what makes us human. By teaching tolerance, we allow individuality and diversity while promoting peace and a civil society. Our success in the struggle of intolerance depends on the effort we make to educate ourselves and our children.
“Intolerance can be unlearnt. Tolerance and mutual respect have to be learnt”
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