CIVIL SERVICE MAINS – 2016 – GENERAL STUDIES Question Paper -II
1)Discuss the essentials of the 69th constitutional amendment act and anomalies, if any, that have led to recent reported conflicts between the elected representatives and the institution of the Lieutenant Governor in the administration of Delhi.Do you think this will give rise to a new trend in the functioning of the Indian federal politics ?
2) To what extent article – 370 of the Indian Constitution ,bearing marginal note “Temporary provision with respect to the state of Jammu and Kashmir” , temporary ?Discuss the future prospect of this with regards to Indian polity.
3)”The Indian party system is passing through a phase of transition which looks to be full of contradictions and paradoxes.” Discuss.
4)Exercise of CAG’s power in relation to the accounts of the Union and the States is derived from article – 149 of Indian Constitution.Discuss whether audit of government’s policy implementation could amount to overstepping its own (CAG) jurisdiction.
5)Discuss each adjective attached to the word “Republic” and “Preamble” .Are they defendable in present circumstances ?
6)What was held in Coehho case ? In this context , can you say that judicial review is of key importance amongst the basic feature of constitution ?
7)Did the Government of India Act , 1935 lay down a federal constitution ?Discuss.
8)What is quasi-judicial body ?Explain with the help of concrete example.
9)Professor Amratya Sen has advocated important reforms in the realm of primary education and primary healthcare. What are your suggestion to improve their status and performance ?
10)”In the Indian governance system the role of non-state actors are has only been marginal” .Critically examine this statement.
11)”Effectiveness of the government system at various levels and people’s participation in the governance system are inter-dependent.”Discuss their relationship in the context of India.
12)In the Integrity Index of Transparency international , India stands very low.Discuss briefly the legal , political, economic, social and cultural factors that have caused the decline of public morality in India.
13)Has the Indian government system responded adequately to the demands of Liberalizations , Privatization and Globalization started in 1991 ? What can the government do to be more responsive to this change ?
14)”Traditional bureaucratic structure and culture have hampered the process of socio-economic development in India” .Comment.
15)Examine the main provisions of National Child Policy and throw light on its provisions.
16)”Demographic dividend in India will only remain theoretical unless our manpower becomes more educated , aware, skilled and creative.”What measures taken by the government to enhance the capacity of our population to be more productive and employable ?
17)The broader aims and objectives of WTO are to manage and promote international trade in the era of globalization .But the Doha round of negotiations seems doomed due to differences between the developed and the developing countries “.Discuss in the Indian perspective.
18)Evaluate the economic and strategic dimensions of India’s Look East Policy in the context of Post Cold-war international scenario.
19)Increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in India and growing interference in the internal affairs of several member-state by Pakistan are not conducive for SAARC “Explain with example.
20)What are the aims and objectives of McBride’s Commission of the UNESCO ? What is India’s position on this ?
Receive Daily Updates
Recent Posts
Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.