CIVIL SERVICE MAINS – 2016 – GENERAL STUDIES Question Paper -III
We are happy that many questions were asked in our test series and sincerely hope that our students did well.As far as the number of questions concerned we predicted correctly in the MAINS exam – we will leave it to your better judgment.The comparative analysis was given towards the end of the post.
We have asked this questions in our Mains Program :-
- We have published many articles relate to globalization and its impact and the question related to globalization and formal sector was part of it. The most important part being – globalization led to rise of contract employment where the contractors don’t have the social security net provided their employer.We have discussed it one of our articles and in answer scripts of the test series.
- The GENDER BUDGETING question was asked by us verbatim.Hope our students did well.Here is the question we asked in our mock test:-
- Give an outline of the concept of and the government initiatives for gender-budgeting in India.
- PMJDY and financial inclusion , was a question expected last year but came this year.Not much of a trouble for the candidate to answer this question anyway.We have asked question related to financial inclusion however not specific to PMJDY as we expected it last year.
- SMART CITY and RURBAN – both were specifically asked by us on our test series.There are 2 questions asked by us :-
- Smart Cities Mission aims to improve the quality of life of the average urban citizen. However according to few experts, it is necessary to make cities liveable first before making them smart.Discuss in light of problems associated with urban areas in India.
- The sustainable cities need sustainable villages. In light of this statement , discuss the components and importance of RURBAN mission.
- FDI question can be discussed in many heads :-
- Justification – for FOREX .Capital Investment is anyway a good things for economy.It also brings new technology along with work culture and better management practices.
- The gap is due to :-
- Foggy business process along with difficulty is getting permits ,land acquisition and EIA etc (eg – POSCO fiasco)
- Politicization of the issue leading to protests etc
- Red-tapesim
- Retrospective taxation issue
- High corporate tax
- The criteria for local employment issue and the burden of skilling them.
- Many other issues can be thought of on these line
- Question given in our test series is not related to the question of the Mains exam directly however there is little overlap of content.Question in our test series –
- “The recent liberalization in FDI will help India to attain the commanding heights of its economic potential”. Comment.
- Inclusive Growth – the editorial is here – Click Here
- Question asked in our test series –
- Even after seven decades of targeted policy making, India was ranked very low globally on most of the parameters for inclusive growth and development. Analyse the problems associated with achieving inclusive growth in India and suggest solutions for it.
- Question asked in our test series –
- Water use efficiency and micro irrigation can be answered , but you have to extrapolate points from our various articles, and it is fairly a simple answer.While answering one can link water with climate smart agriculture because agriculture uses the most of the water. Discuss what what we can learn from Israel.You must discuss drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation etc.We have published one article on climate smart agriculture, 6 articles on water usage and one one Indo-Israel mou etc.So you have link it all and then answer this question.
- Allelopathy is the biological phenomenon where a plant releases certain biochemical which influence the germination and growth of certain other plants and organisms.It essentially , if put to good use can reduce the unnecessary weeds in agriculture.This question was not given by us in any of our tests 🙂
- Land reforms was a question asked in our mains test series.This was our question :-
- “By and large land reforms in India enacted so far and those contemplated in the near future are in the right direction; and yet due to lack of implementation the actual results are far from satisfactory”. Substantiate.
- And the answer script we have provided is one of the best to answer this question holistically.
- The exhaustive answer script can be found her – Click here
- The password to open the post is – utree2016
- PMFBY, we asked this question in Mains series : This was the question :-
- The recently launched “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana” can bring paradigm shift as far as crop insurance is concerned. Comment.
- In the mains exam question you only have to write the salient features but in our question you have to go a step further and justify why it is a paradigm shift by comparing the features with previous crop insurance schemes.
- Renewable energy question:-
- This question can easily be answered by few article given by us :-
- Space tech and its application
- Question in our test series:-
- Space technology is increasingly changing the method and means of administration.In light of this , discuss importance of space technology to bring paradigm shift in rural economy of India.
- Question in our test series:-
- Nanotechnology and application
- Question in our test series:-
- What is “nano technology” ?Bring out its benefits and applications.
- Question in our test series:-
- Rehabilitation and its impact
- You can answer this question by 2 of our ARC report summaries.
- Urban Flood
- Question given in our test series :-
- Increasing anthropogenic intervention in natural processes is transforming rainfall, rather a “natural event” to a “man-made disaster”. In light of this discuss the reasons behind rising instances of urban floods in India and suggest measures to tackle it.
- Question given in our test series :-
- NDMA guidelines and cloud burst (Not asked by us)
- Surgical strikes and hot pursuit (Not asked by us , although article were published on this)
- Terrorism as industry
- Many article and question were given on this, well known theme anyway.
- Border management
- This question has to answered by using geography and polity along with International relationship.
- Use geography to justify complexity – 15000 km land and 7000km sea border in most volatile region with hostile neighbours.Hogback topography, Siachen difficulties.
- Challenges are well known and can be discussed in the following heads – geographical/environmental (for example – cross-country biosphere reserves , natural parks etc ),historical,socio-cultural and political etc
- Social media and national security
- Question given by us in our test series:-
- Discuss role of social media in globalizing terrorism.Suggest Measures to counter the propaganda of terrorists.
- Question given by us in our test series:-
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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.