Category: GS-III

Low farm price and low agriculture productivity is possible in Agrarian distress. Suggest the way to double the farmer income by 2022.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (discuss the current Agrarian distress facing India).
  • What is agrarian distress?
  • How it will help formers?
  • What the agrarian distress demand policy?
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • The rising demand for farm loan waivers across states show the extent of agriculture distress.
  • This agrarian distress demands urgent policy attention on the following lines:
  • raise productivity
  • reduce costs of cultivation by providing quality inputs at subsidised rates
  • provide remunerative prices following the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission
  • ensure assured procurement of output
  • expand access to institutional credit
  • enhance public investment for infrastructural development
  • institute effective crop insurance systems
  • Establish affordable scientific storage facilities and agro-processing industries for value addition etc.

Discuss the need to control the social media and its related challenges.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Role of social media and its security).
  • Explain about social media in regular life.
  • Why it needs to be controlled?
  • What are the challenges involved in?
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • About 1.49 billion people on average log onto Facebook daily; every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter; and since its inception, over 40 billion photographs have been posted on Instagram.
  • This is evidence of the huge presence of social media in our lives.
  • It needs to be controlled because people spend more time some are misusing.

A fire broke out in Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral recently. What is the historicalsignificance of Notre-Dame cathedral?

Notre-Dame de Paris is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages and is distinguished for its size, antiquity, and architectural interest.

Significance of the building:

  • It took 182 years to complete the construction of the Notre-Dame de Paris.
  • The church had been a centre of attraction for pilgrims for centuries as it had priceless artefacts in its possession such as the Holy Crown of Thorns, believed to have been worn by Jesus before the crucifixion, a piece of the “True Cross” upon which he was said to be crucified, and a nail from the crucifixion.
  • Notre-Dame, which housed several statues of kings, had attracted the anger of protesters during the French Revolution in 1789. They ransacked the cathedral, destroyed the royal statues and brought down the original spire.
  • When Catholicism was banned in France during the Revolution, Notre-Dame was turned into a Temple of Reason.
  • Napoleon chose the damaged church for his coronation as Emperor of France in 1804.
  • Two distinct features of Notre-Dame are its flying buttresses and gargoyles.

Challenges in rebuilding:

  • The blaze has destroyed the cathedral’s roof and spire, its structure remains sound “with some vulnerabilities”. Most of the relics, including the Crown of Thorns, were rescued from the blaze.
  • The original roof and the beams were wooden and rebuilding them exactly as they were before the fire needs hundreds of trees, which itself is a challenge.
  • The restoration cost is yet to be decided as the extent of the damage is still being assessed. France might get donations for the restoration, but large-scale spending on the cathedral could also cause social tensions, especially at a time when the economy is going through a tough phase and grappling with large-scale protests.

India has entered an elite space club with Mission Shakti-Anti-Satellite Missile Test. What is Anti-Satellite Missile Test? Critically examine Mission shakti and its benefits for India?

It is the technological capability to hit and destroy satellites in space through missiles launched from the ground. Anti-satellite (A-Sat) weapons that attempt to directly strike or detonate near a satellite or other targets are called kinetic physical weapons.

Mission Shakti

  • India has tested the Anti-Satellite System(A-SAT) from Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, an island off the coast of Odisha.
  • The test was named as Mission Shakti.
  • It has successfully destroyed a live satellite in the Low Earth Orbit(an altitude of 300 km).
  • With this test India is now in the league of three countries after the U.S., Russia, and China to have such technology.

Anti-satellite (ASAT) System

  • It is missile- based system to attack moving satellites.
  • It is of 2 kinds—based on launching from the ground or from planes.
  • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has -developed Anti-satellite (ASAT)completely indigenously.

Significance for India:

  • India among Elite Group –Anti-satellite technology has so far been in the hands of very few countries: United States, Russia and China. The acquisition and demonstration of this technology make India a member of an elite group of countries.
  • Indigenous Efforts – Indigenously developed technology adds to India’s credentials, given that for many decades India was kept away from acquiring key technologies, forcing the country to develop its own space and nuclear capabilities.
  • Capability to destroy enemy satellites –Anti-satellite weapons provide the capability to shoot down enemy satellites in orbit thereby disrupting critical communications and surveillance capabilities. It can cripple enemy infrastructure without causing any threat to human lives.
  • Space deterrence – Anti-Satellite missile test provides credible deterrence against threats to our growing space-based assets from long range missiles, and proliferation in the types and numbers of missiles.
  • Spin off effect –The acquisition of this technology is expected to have spin-offs that India can exploit for commercial use, both domestic and globally.
  • Drafting of International law: India expects to play a role in the future in the drafting of international law on prevention of an arms race in outer space including inter alia on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space in its capacity as a major space faring nation with proven space technology. India was not considered a nuclear weapons state during Non-proliferation treaty because it did not test before January 1968.

Explain in detail about NPA in Banking Sector?

What is NPA?

  • NPA in terms of RBI regulations result out of non-payment of interest for a period of 90 days or non-payment of principle amount for 90 days or more. So beyond that point, it is called Non-Performing Asset. The loan is taken by the company on its assets from the bank. When the asset is not performing because they become doubtful and NPAs from doubtful become bad loans.
  • Before the period of 90 days, they are calledStressed Assets.Stressed assets= NPAs + restructured loans + Written Off Assets.

Types of stressed Assets:

  • Sub-standard Assets-If borrower fails to repay the installment, interest on principal or principal for 90 days the loan becomes NPA and it is termed as Special Mention Account (SMA). If it remains SMA for a period less than or equal to 12 months it is termed as Substandard Assets.
  • Doubtful Assets-If the Sub-standard assets remains so for 12 months or more, then it would be termed as Doubtful Asset.
  • Loss Assets-If the loan is not repaid even after it remains substandard for more than three years it would be called as loss Asset.
  • Written Off Assets-Written off assets are those on which the bank or lender doesn’t count the money borrower owes to it.

The following have caused distress in the banks’ assets and have played part in the mounting NPAs –

  • Prolonged downturn in the world economy,
  • Falling commodity prices,
  • Lack of due diligence and adherence to rules (inadequate and poor risk assessment of the proposals by the banks)
  • Complex workings of the bureaucracy,
  • Typical bureaucratic red tape,
  • Long delays and gestation periods of several infrastructure projects,
  • Delays in land acquisition and
  • Politically inspired agitations

The NPA “SAMADHAN” Project:

  • Resolution process must move on smoothly – and not be stalled by long drawn legal wrangling’s. Longer the delay, the resolution of assets will be postponed further. The capital that is blocked in the NPA would not yield anything and will continue remaining stressed.
  • It is important to recognize that even if we could resolve quickly, no matter the amount of “haircut” there exists a major upside for both the economy and the bank:
  • For Economy: 1000 of stalled projects will come back contributing to the growth and positive GDP evaluation
  • For Bank: As they have been provided for 100% for the stressed assets, at least their financial health would turn better.

Discuss the transmission, signs, treatment and control of NIPAH Virus Disease?

What is NIPAH virus?

  • Nipah Virus is a zoonotic virus-transmitted from animals to humans. Other examples include swine flu, bird flu
  • Nipah virus is highly infectious
  • The Nipah virus is a member of the genus Henipavirusin the family Paramyxoviridae
  • The virus is an RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus and mutates very fast
  • The disease was named after Kampung Sungai Nipah (Nipah River Village), Malaysia, where the first viral isolate was obtained
  • Closely related to Hendra virus
  • There is debate over whether the disease is air borne

Host:

  • Fruit bats (Pteropus), popularly known as flying foxes are natural reservoir hosts of Nipah Virus

Transmission:/ Direct contact with:

  • Infected Bats
  • Infected Pigs

Other NiV infected people:

  • Transmission through respiratory droplets, saliva, contact with infected tissues, other bodily secretions
  • Consumption of fruit or fruit products contaminated with urine or saliva of infected bats-Indirect transmission
  • The secondary wave of transmission occurs from human-human contact and is most challenging for health authorities to combat
  • Nipah virus infection generally has a stuttering chain of transmission-Once the virus moves from bats to humans; it generally spreads to people in close contact with the patients

Signs and Symptoms in Humans:

  • Infection associated with inflammation of brain
  • Initial symptoms include fever, headache, respiratory problem followed by drowsiness, disorientation and mental confusion
  • These could progress to coma and ultimately to death

Mortality rate:High; 40-75%

  • Long term effects in those who survive: persistent convulsions, personality changes
  • Latent infections with subsequent reactivation of Nipah virus and death have also been reported

Diagnosis:

  • Viral isolation from throat and nasal swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, and blood using Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)

Treatment:

  • No vaccine or antiviral drug available for either people or animals.
  • Intensive supportive care with treatment of symptoms is the main approach to managing the infection in people

Explain in details about NEFT and RTGS money transfer?

NEFT:

  • NEFT is an electronic funds transfer system maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  • Started in November 2005, the setup was established and maintained by Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT).
  • NEFT enables bank customers in India to transfer funds between any two NEFT-enabled bank accounts on a one-to-one basis. It is done via electronic messages.
  • Unlike Real-time gross settlement (RTGS), fund transfers through the NEFT system do not occur in real-time basis.

RTGS

  • RTGS are specialist funds transfer systems where the transfer of money or securities takes place from one bank to any other bank on a “real time” and on a “gross” basis.
  • Settlement in “real time” means a payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period, with transactions being settled as soon as they are processed.
  • “Gross settlement” means the transaction is settled on one-to-one basis without bundling or netting with any other transaction.
  • “Settlement” means that once processed, payments are final and irrevocable.

What are the current limits?

  • Customers can transfer anywhere between Rs 1 and Rs 25 lakh via NEFT (for HDFC Bank; varies from bank to bank) through net banking in a day.
  • Through RTGS, they can transfer between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 25 lakh through net banking in a day.
  • However, as of now, these online transactions are not available on Sundays, on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month and on bank holidays.
  • On working days, NEFT is available between 8 am and 7 pm (varies from bank to bank) except on working Saturdays (8 am and 1 pm) and hence they restrict customers’ ability to carry out such transactions.
  • Online RTGS transactions are available for lesser hours. It can be done till 4 pm (varies from bank to bank)

Discuss in detail the crisis being faced by NBFCS in India? Suggest what measures need to be taken to resolve the same? (250 words)

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Importance of national security).
  • Need for formulating a national security strategy for India.
  • What are the major shortcomings in India’s national security architecture that must be addressed?
  • Key national security institutions and revamp their functioning.
  • Role of National Security Adviser with respect to accountability and legal formality.
  • Significant features of Hooda document.
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Non-banking finance companies(NBFCs)

  • Non-banking finance companies(NBFCs)are a fundamental part of the Indian financial system playing a significant role in nation building and financial inclusion.
  • It plays a complementary role to the banking system in promoting financial inclusion. The Non-
    Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs)are the financial institutions that offer the banking services, but do
    not comply with the legal definition of a bank, i.e. it does not hold a bank license. Both banks and NBFCs are
    financial intermediaries.
  • NBFCs can lend and make investments. Hence, their activities are akin to that of banks.

Differences between NBFCs and banks:

  • NBFC cannot accept demand deposits;
  • Banks can maintain demand deposits (savings/current accounts) but NBFCs accept only term deposits;
  • Banks form a part of Payment and Settlement Mechanism but NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself;
  • Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks.

Crisis Being Faced by NBFCS in India:

  • India’s non-banking financial companies (NBFC) sector —also known as the shadow banking system that provides services similar to traditional commercial banks but outside normal banking regulations —is passing through a
    turbulent period following a series of defaults by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) and the subsequent liquidity crunch.
  • The liquidity squeeze faced by NBFCs has led to a conflict between the government and the Reserve Bank of India, with the Finance Ministry pushing for easier fund flows while the RBI insists there’s enough money available in the system.
  • Several corporates, mutual funds and insurance companies had invested in short-term instruments such as commercial papers (CPs) and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of the IL&FS group that has been defaulting on payments since August.
  • This has stoked fears that many of them could have funds stuck in IL&FS debt instruments which, in turn, could lead to a liquidity crunch in their own backyard. Liquidity conditions had tightened, with a deficit of Rs 1.37 lakh crore on October 22, 2018, though this has declined since.
  • There are rising fears that the funding cost for NBFCs will zoom and result in a sharp decline in their margins.
  • The decline in asset quality for select NBFCs has stemmed from cases where underwriters (a person or company that underwrites an insurance risk) are inexperienced, or with limited understanding of the local situation and dynamics that drive the demand for credit.

Way Forward:

  • Efficient engagement of customers: NBFCs must distinguish between active and inactive customers to develop a focused engagement methodology and allocate resources efficiently.
  • Building effective reward and loyalty programmes to minimise bad debts:NBFCs must increase customer retention by building a strong loyalty programme, with discount, cashback benefits. The program must be customised according to the customer type and factor in the right data variables to provide meaningful incentives and value for customer loyalty.
  • Over the years, NBFCs have played an important role in providing growth capital to various sectors of the economy
  • A concerted effort across stakeholders is required to prevent a market contagion that can cut off the critical supply of capital to the grassroots of the nation.

What are the impediments in disposing the huge quantities of discarded solid wastes which are continuously being generated? How do we remove safely the toxic wastes that have been accumulating in our habitable environment?

STRUCTURE OF THE ANSWER:

  • • Introduction.
  • • What is Solid waste.
  • • Discuss about the impediments in disposing the huge quantities of discarded solid wastes in India.
  • • List down the ways to remove safely the toxic wastes.
  • • Conclusion.

Keypoints:

  • • Solid wastes are the abandoned or discarded materials i.e. any garbage, discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations.
  • • The current status of solid waste management (SWM) in India is poor because the best and most appropriate methods from waste collection to disposal are not being used.
  • • There is a lack of training in SWM and the availability of qualified waste management professionals is limited.
  • • Municipal authorities are responsible for managing municipal solid waste (MSW) in India
  • • The lack of strategic MSW plans, waste collection/segregation and a government finance regulatory framework are major barriers to achieving effective SWM in India.
  • • Limited environmental awareness combined with low motivation has inhibited innovation and the adoption of new technologies that could transform waste management in India.
  • • Four R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Explain the need for a robust and transparent securitization in financial systems also discusses measures to develop the market in coming days.

Structure of answer:

  • • Introduction (say about securitization framework.
  • • The Committee on the Development of Housing Finance Securitization Market.
  • • Discuss that the mortgage securitization market in India is primarily dominated by direct assignments among a limited set of market participants on account of various structural factors impacting both the demand and the supply.
  • • Explain issues of misaligned incentives and agency problems resulting from information asymmetry problems between the originators and investors in the market
  • • Way forward.
  • • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • • To develop the housing finance securitisation market in India, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) formed a committee to review the existing state of mortgage securitisation and suggest ways to develop the market further under the chairmanship of Harsh Vardhan, senior advisor, Bain & Co.
  • • The newly appointed committee has been mandated to examine the existing structure for mortgage-backed securitisation transactions in India, including legal, tax, valuation and accounting-related issues.
  • • It has also been asked to suggest necessary modifications to address the requirements of originators and investors.
  • • The panel’s terms of reference include analysis of “the prevalent structures including legal, tax, valuation and accounting related issues, and suggest necessary modifications to address the requirements of both originators as well as investors”.

Evaluate the potential impact of climate change of world food production

Structure of answer:

  • • Introduction (about issue of climate change).
  • • Impact of climate change on world food production.
  • • Impact in different parts of the world (give some examples).
  • • Way forward.
  • • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • • Climate change can disrupt food availability, reduce access to food, and affect food quality.
  • • For example, projected increases in temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, changes in extreme weather events, and reductions in water availability may all result in reduced agricultural productivity.
  • • Climate change is driving an increase in the intensity and frequency of hot days and heatwaves in Australia, changing rainfall patterns, increasing the severity of droughts, and driving up the likelihood of extreme fire danger weather.
  • • How to protect:
  • • No-Till Farming. Avoiding tillage keeps moisture, organic matter and nutrients in the soil, making farm fields more fertile.
  • • Heat-Tolerant Traits. With temperatures on the rise due to global warming, heat waves are putting our crops and food security at risk.
  • • Drought-Tolerant Maize.
  • • Crop Protection.

    • Nitrogen-Use Efficiency.

Why it is necessary to view sustainable development from the interest of flora and fauna and not just from the standpoint of human being is the needs of the hour explain.

Structure of answer:

  • • Introduction (Need in current time).
  • • Significance of eco-centric approach.
  • • Say about why we should have view sustainable development from the prism of interest of flora and fauna and not just from the standpoint of human beings.
  • • Way forward.
  • • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • • Ecocentrism can be seen as one stream of thought within environmentalism, the political and ethical movement that seeks to protect and improve the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities by adopting environmentally benign forms of political, economic, and social.
  • • The principal solution for Sustainable Development lies in mental transformation towards an eco-centric mindset that prioritizes socio-ecological objectives in human well-being.

Discuss about India’s maiden human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan also explain its major objectives

Structure of answer:

  • • Introduction (Say about mission)
  • • About mission
  • • Objectives of Gaganyaan mission.
  • • Conclusion (say about its importance and significance of mission)

Key points:

  • • Gaganyaan (“Sky Craft”) is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
  • • India has already successfully developed and tested several building blocks, including re-entry space capsule, pad abort test, safe crew ejection mechanisam in case of rocket failure, flight suit developed by DEBEL and the powerful GSLV-
    MkIII launch vehicle.
  • • Used to test orbital injection, separation and re-entry procedures and systems of the Crew Capsule.
  • • Also tested were the capsule separation, heat shields and aerobraking systems, deployment of parachute, retro-firing, splashdown, flotation systems and procedures to recover the Crew Capsule from the Bay of Bengal.

“With the New government India needs a New Bombay plan”, explain.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Say about Bombay plan).
  • What is Bombay plan? How it relate to present days?
  • Discuss its potential to change the direction of economic development in the country and how it also happens to be one that is worth emulating today.
  • Explain why it is necessary for the new government to have a vision in this direction?
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion (significance of such plans in bringing an overhaul in the economy of the country).

Key points:

  • The Bombay Plan” is the nickname of a 15-year economic plan for India proposed by a group of industrialists and technocrats in January 1944.
  • Initially, it was released for private circulation only. Soon afterwards, the plan was published as a pamphlet in response to the interest generated by it.
  • The Bombay Plan is the name commonly given to a World War II-era set of proposals for the development of the post-independence economy of India.
  • A key principle of the Bombay Plan was that the economy could not grow without government intervention and regulation.
  • The prime objectives of the plan were to achieve a balanced economy and to raise the standard of living of the masses of the population rapidly by doubling the present per capita income within a period of 15 years from the time the plan goes into operation.
  • This plan envisages that the economy could not grow without government intervention and regulation.
  • In other words, the future government protects indigenous industries against foreign competition in local markets.

What is sandbox? Explain why it is often mentioned in the context of financial technologies companies? Also explain its importance in Indian economy.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Discuss about SEBI).
  • Objective of Sandbox.
  • Why sand box is important in Indian economy?
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • A live, testing environment where new products, processes, services and business models could be deployed on a limited set of eligible customers for a specified period of time, with certain relaxations in the regulations and guidelines.
  • The sandbox is intended to serve as a testing ground for new business models and technologies that benefit the investors, Indian markets and the Indian economy at large.
  • To begin with, all market participants that are registered with the SEBI will be eligible to test within the sandbox.
  • At a later stage, SEBI may allow sandbox access to fintech start-ups and other fintech firms as well.
  • To be eligible to be tested in the sandbox, a solution need to show that it directly benefits the investors and poses no risks to the financial markets among other parameters.

What is the major reason for the development of solar energy in India despite its high potential? Say the achievement and issues faced and how to overcome.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Facts and statistics related to solar energy production in India).
  • What is the scope of producing solar energy so high in India?
  • Reason.
  • Achievements.
  • Issues and concern.
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion (Singnificance).

Key points:

  • India has tremendous scope of generating solar energy.
  • The geographical location of the country stands to its benefit for generating solar energy.
  • The reason being India is a tropical country and it receives solar radiation almost throughout the year, which amounts to 3,000 hours of sunshine.
  • While solar panels are considered a form of clean, renewable energy, the manufacturing process does produce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Additionally, to produce solar panels, manufacturers need to handle toxic chemicals. However, solar panels are not emitting toxins into the atmosphere as they’re generating electricity.
  • When fossil fuels are used to create electricity, they produce harmful gasemissions that affect the safety of air, water and soil.
  • In contrast, solar energy produces no pollution. The sun’s power offers an unlimited source of energy that does not strip the landscape or harm the ozone layer.

What is Green New Deal (GND)? Discuss its prospects for India’s ailing economy.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Importance of concept).
  • What is GND?
  • Explain its proposal.
  • Discuss how The Green New Deal could work in India too, allowing for a qualitative difference to the economy. (Get points from recent current affairs and explain in depth.
  • Way forward (How to overcome the issue.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • It is a big, bold transformation of the economy to tackle the twin crises of inequality and climate change.
  • It would mobilize vast public resources to help us transition from an economy built on exploitation and fossil fuels to one driven by dignified work and clean energy.
  • A Green New Deal would help us swiftly transition to a clean energy economy. … Clean air and water: A Green New Deal would replace lead pipes, clean up hazardous waste sites, and reduce toxic air and water pollution from oil, gas, and coal.
  • The Green New Deal is a congressional resolution that lays out a grand plan for tackling climate change.
  • No, the Green New Deal doesn’t aim to end air travel, as Florida Sen.

Discuss in detail about the application and role played by the robotics in the upbringing of agri culture sector in India.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (about robotics in agriculture)
  • Current scenario of agriculture in India in comparison with other countries that have developed agriculture systems like US, Iran etc.
  • Discuss how robotics can be applied to agrarian systems? What benefits it has and can bring?
  • Explain the specific case of India.
  • Discuss the scope and benefits in detail.
  • Explain the challenges involved.
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • Agricultural Robot Applications. Agricultural robots automate slow, repetitive and dull tasks for farmers, allowing them to focus more on improving overall production yields.
  • Some of the most common robots in agriculture are used for: Harvesting and picking
  • Agribot is a robot designed for agricultural purposes.
  • It performs the elementary functions involved in farming i.e. ploughing the field, sowing of seeds and covering the seeds with soil.
  • The robot is autonomous and provides the facility for optional switching of the ploughing system when required.
  • An agricultural robot or agribot is a robot deployed for agricultural purposes. The main area of application of robots in agriculture is at the harvestingstage.
  • Fruit picking robots, driverless tractor / sprayer, and sheep shearing robots are designed to replace human labour.

Is AI (Artificial intelligence) and autonomous machines are threat to humanity is misguided analyse the statement with respect to the Indian scenario.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Say about AI and machine job).
  • Analyse the past Industrial revolutions how they improved jobs and never failed employment in terms of mass jobs, better technology.
  • Discuss about how AI and robotics are replacing the human being in all kind of jobs.
  • Explain how this affects India.
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • The traditional problems (or goals) of AI research include reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, learning, natural language processing, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems.
  • These processes include learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the information), reasoning (using rules to reach approximate or definite conclusions) and self-correction.
  • Machine Learning is the learning in which machine can learn by its own without being explicitly programmed.
  • It is an application of AI that provides system the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience.

What do you mean by Minimum Support Price (MSP)? How will MSP rescue the farmers from the low income trap?


Structure of Answer:

  • Define MSP.
  • Briefly explain its importance.
  • Discuss the highlights of Budget 2018.
  • Way forward.
  • Conclusion.

Key points:

  • Minimum Support Price is the price at which government purchases crops for the farmers, to safeguard the interests of the farmers. It is an important part of India’s agricultural price policy.
  • It supports the food security program through PDS and also gives sufficient remuneration to the farmers.
  • When market prices fall below the announced MSPs bezoek website, procurement agencies step in to procure the crop and ‘support’ the prices.
  • The FCI and Nafed help the Centre procure select food crops with the help of the States.

State the three basic values, universal in nature, in the context of civil services and bring out their importance.

Structure of Answer:

  • Introduction( what is ethics?)
  • Differentiate between the terms ‘impartiality’, ‘non-partisanship’ and ‘objectivity’
  • Why these attributes are necessary for a civil servant.

Key points.

ETHICS:

  • The ethics and values for the civil services have to be different and properly structured from those for the citizens or other sectors of the society because civil servants have special obligations to the community.

IMPARTIALITY:

  • Impartiality ensures equality without any bias and prejudices in the general, non-partisanship ensures a neutral approach in politics and a solid commitment to the government.

NON-PARTISANSHIP:

  • Non-partisanship is not being specifically owned or affiliated with any group, party or cause. Non-partisanship can be called political neutrality.

OBJECTIVITY:

  • What objectivity in ethics is depends, in part, on what ethics is. On the narrowest understanding, ethics consists in judgments about moral constraints, which govern a person’s treatment of other people, as such.
  • On the broadest understanding, ethics includes all normative judgments, which say which responses one ought to have, and all evaluative judgments, which assess people and things against standards, as good or bad, beautiful or ugly, and so on.

Defining blue revolution, explain the problems and strategies for pisciculture development in India.

Structure of Answer:

  • Introduction :
  • Define Blue Revolution
  • Write about problems in terms of challenges and issues

Key points:

  • Discuss about problems.
  • Strategies for Pisiculture development
  • Schemes related to pisiculture.
  • Species Diversification
  • Way forward( discuss about how to be solved).

What is exit poll? Difference between opinion and exit poll. Explain why in India election commission (EC) is opposed to media coverage of opiopn polls and exit polls during a multi-phase election?

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Explain the basic definition).
  • Difference between Exit and opinion poll
  • Why ECI is opposed to them during the period of ongoing elections?
  • Other practice during elections in the other countries.
  • Conclusion ( Say about decision by ECI and importance of freedom of speech)

Key points:

  • An opinion poll is a pre-election survey to gather voters’ views on a range of election-related issues.
  • An exit poll, on the other hand, is conducted immediately after people have voted, and assesses the support for political parties and their candidates.
  • Both kinds of polls can be controversial if the agency conducting them is perceived to be biased.
  • The projections of these surveys can be influenced by the choice, wording and timing of the questions, and by the nature of the sample drawn.
  • Political parties often allege that many opinions and exit polls are motivated and sponsored by their rivals, and could have a distorting effect on the choices voters make in a protracted election, rather than simply reflecting public sentiment or views.
  • How are they conducted?Exit poll is a post-voting pollwhich is conducted just after a voter walks out after casting his or her vote.
  • Such polls aim at predicting the actual result on the basis of the information collected from the voters. They are conducted by a number of organizations.

Discuss about the Malnourishment in India and discuss the significance of food fortification to tackle the issue of malnourishment.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction ( About current scenario in country)
  • How does it affect population?
  • Why it become a public health emergency?
  • About food fortification its importance
  • Conclusion ( List the government’s efforts)

Key points:

  • How? Iron deficiency contributes to 20% of maternal deaths and is associated with nearly half of all maternal deaths in India.
  • Malnutrition extends to the children that women with anemia give birth to. They often have low birth weight, are pre-term, and suffer from poor development and lower mental abilities.
  • Lack of essential nutrients in the diet makes growing children weak and makes them under nourished etc.
  • Discuss why other missions to tackle malnutrition haven’t been able to succeed fully – National Food Security Act (NFSA), a free Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDM), National nutrition mission.
  • Despite India’s 50% increase in GDP since 1991, more than one third of the world’s malnourished children live in India.
  • Among these, half of the children under three years old are underweight and a third of wealthiest children are over-nutriented.
  • India’s malnutrition problem results not from calorie intake but from dependence on a carbohydrate based diet low in protein and fat.
  • Another factor triggeringmalnutrition is inadequate sanitation, which triggers an increase in infection-borne deficiencies in nutrients.
  • In India 44% of children under the age of 5 are underweight. 72% of infants and 52% of married women have anaemia.
  • Research has conclusively shown thatmalnutrition during pregnancy causes the child to have increased risk of future diseases, physical retardation, and reduced cognitive abilities.

Explain about India cooling action plan and its objectives also discuss about the response to addressing India’s future cooling needs while neutralizing its impact.

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Cooling action plan).
  • How and why it occurred?
  • Objective of India Cooling Action Plan.
  • What are the Benefits?

Key Points:

  • India is the first country in world to develop such a document (ICAP), which addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand.
  • The overarching goal is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society.

Objective:

  • Assessment of cooling requirements across sectors in next 20 years and the associated refrigerant demand and energy use.
  • Map the technologies available to cater the cooling requirement including passive interventions, refrigerant-based technologies and alternative technologies such as not-in-kind technologies.
  • Suggest interventions in each sector to provide for sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all.
  • Focus on skilling of RAC service technicians.
  • Develop an R&D innovation ecosystem for indigenous development of alternative technologies.

What are micro plastics? Explain about its threats and solutions

Structure of answer:

  • Introduction (Concept of Micro plastic)
  • How it affects?
  • What are the concerns?
  • Way forward (What need to be done?)

Key points:

  • What? Microplastics are tiny particles which are present in many sources, including carry bags and pet bottles.
  • These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the water bodies, posing a potential threat to aquatic life.
  • Microbeads, a kind of microplastic, are used as exfoliates in some cleansers and toothpastes. Even though banned in US and Canada, microbeads are still used in India.
  • Effect: Microplastics can migrate through the intestinal wall and travel to lymph nodes and other bodily organs, shows the Orb report.
  • Microplastics have also been shown to absorb toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other illnesses, and then release them when consumed by fish and mammals.
  • So if plastic fibers are in your water, experts say they’re surely in your food.
  • Do’s: Regulations on use of plastics in general and microplastics in particular should be put in place by the government.
  • Alternatives should be found to tackle with rising consumerism and the increasing use of plastic in everyday life.
  • Invention of new, more readily degradable bio-based materials for the plastics could be a way.
  • The entire flow chain from manufacturer to the user to the waste collector and the recycling authority should be made aware of the risks.

Indian family system has undergone drastic change in response to development in terms of industrialization, education and urbanization. Comment.

Structure of the answer

  • Introduction
  • Write the impact of industrialization and urbanization on Indian family
  • Write about Family structure.
  • What are the Social problems for the senior citizens in the family.
  • Discuss the impact of education

Key points:

  • About: Industrialization leads to urbanization by creating economic growth and job opportunities that draw people to cities. Urbanization typically begins when a factory or multiple factories are established within a region, thus creating a high demand for factory labor.
  • Impact: Natural increase caused by a decrease in death rates while birth rates remain high. A range of economic, political,social, cultural and environmental factors affect urbanization. Urbanization is encouraged socially and culturally through the media.
  • You will learn about the effects of the Industrial Revolution on living and working conditions, urbanization (the growth of cities), child labor, public health, working class family life, the role of women, the emerging middle class, and economic growth and income.
  • The government passed the Factory Act making two hours of education a day compulsory for children working in factories. The government also granted money to charities for schools for the first time. In 1844, the Ragged Schools Union was set up to give schooling to very poor children.
  • Increase in National Income. Industrialization allows countries to make optimal use of their scarce resources. It increases the quantity and quality of goods manufactured in that company, which makes a larger contribution to gross national product (GNP).

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