“Disputes between the riparian states on sharing of river waters in post-Independence India are becoming increasing complex.” Objectively analyze the major disputes in this connection, with special reference to the southern states.
(Civil Services Exam 2010, 250 Words)
The interstate rivers have become theatre of disputes in the post independence era. The factors such as increasing population, urbanization, regionalism, political compulsions, collation politics and increase in demand for water due to use of fertilizers and high yielding varieties of crop have made the situation complex.
All the major rivers originate in one state and passes through the others. The data on which the water sharing is based has become unviable and anachronic. Mostly the disputes are related to the extra utilization from the binding legal contracts into which the respective states have entered themselves. Since water is the issue related to basic needs and livelihoods thus the pressure groups, regionalism and politics also gets involve into the issue which further make it complex.
The following are the major inter-state water disputes in the country:
1. Cauvery
2. Ravi Beas
3. Krishna
4. Godavari
5. Yamuna
The issue gets intensified in Southern states because of two major factors. Firstly the rivers in south India witness steep changes in their annual regime. Secondly, paddy cultivation is rampant in this part which requires plenty of standing water. Cauvery and Mulperriyar Dam issues are the two major inter-state water disputes in southern India in recent past. While Cauvery water dispute is related to water sharing between the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhara Pradesh, Mulperiyar Dam issue is related with the height of Dam where the two states i.e. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have taken opposite stands.
The legal agreements and awards by the Tribunals in these disputes might prove beneficial to one party in the short term, but in order to cater to the increasing demand of water, cooperation among the states and other players is essential to come up with innovative and sustainable solutions like treatment of sea water, promotion of drought resistant crops etc.
What is Cloud Computing? What are its advantage and disadvantages?
(Civil Services Exam-2010, 150 Words)
Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly rented and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics
1. On-demand self-service
2. Broad network access
3. Resource pooling
4. Rapid elasticity
5. Measured Service
Advantages:
1. It reduce the cost of infrastructure to a great extent
2. It tackles the issue of scaling as per the demand
3. The cost has to be incurred on the basis of actual usage.
4. It is highly automated
Disadvantage:
1. The security is the big issue in case of resource pooling
2. The model requires the net connectivity
3. Infrastructure is also a big challenge.
However if we analyze the advantages and disadvantage it could be inferred that in spite of a few disadvantages the model has huge potential for the future.
Explain and differentiate among “Plasma”, “LCD” and “LED” television technologies.
(Civil Services Exam- 2010, 150 words)
Plasma TV contains a sheet of individual Plasma cell which gets activated due to electric current. The fundamental principle behind Plasma TV is the release of ultra violet photon when the excited electron returns to the normal state.
The LCD TV has liquid crystal which gets activated with the current. Since the panel has no light of its own, an external source is required for the lightening.
The principle of LED is similar to that of LCD which also has liquid crystal, the difference is that the lightening source in the case of former is light emitting diode.
On price front Plasma is the most economical technology while LED is the costliest. The performance of Plasma is better than LED and LCD in terms of motion and the image of Plasma TV remain good at almost all angles. On the other hand the lifespan of LED and LCD TVs are greater than that compared to Plasma technology.
Assess the contribution of Indian Diaspora in the Caribbean.
Civil Services (U.P.S.C) Exam 2010, 150 words
The Indian diaspora has contributed in amost every sphere in the Caribbean countries. No dimension in Caribbean nations including politics, art and culture, sports and business have remained untouhced by the vital contributions of Indian diaspora which at present is more than 2 million in number.
Several Indian origin persons have occupied key political posts and offices in the recent past. Bharat Jagdeo (President of Guyana) and Kamala Prasad Bissessar (Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago) are a few of them who have reached upto the apex offices in these island countries.
In the field of literature the contribution of Indian diaspora in Caribbean countries is remarkable. Sir V.S Naipaul, Samuel Selvon, Mahadai Das, Ramabai Espinet etc have made significant contribution in enriching the literature and culture of these countries.
In the field of medical sciences Dr Anne Dipchand and Dr Doobay are among the distinguished figures in these countries.
Cricketers of Indian origin have also made great contribution to these countries. Players like Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Dinesh Ramdin are icons in these countries.
How far have Japan’s principles of Hikaku San Gensoku impacted bilateral ties with India?
Civil Services (U.P.S.C) Exam 2o1o, 150 words
The three non-nuclear principles (Hikaku San Gensoku) strongly advocate Japan "not to possess nor manufacture nuclear weapons, nor to permit their introduction into Japanese territory". The principles have shaped Japan’s attitude towards India and effected the bilateral relations.
When India conducted its 1974 and 1998 nuclear tests, committed to these principles, Japan imposed economic sanctions and criticized India’s nuclear policy in various disarmament forums.
Japanese political leadership because of its adherence to these principles has also persuaded Indian government to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
These principles also had implications in the recent past when the Japanese government wanted a Nuclear Deal with India in order to give momentum to its economic growth. The government had to face serious criticism discussions on the nuclear deal with the non-NPT member, nuclear India. Under such pressure, Japan took almost five year to reach a level to discuss modalities of the Indo-Japan nuclear deal. The deal is also crucial since American and French nuclear companies have Japanese partners, and without an Indo-Japan agreement, nuclear deals with the US and France would be non-starters.
Japan has to understand strategic needs of India, its clean track record of non proliferation and commitment towards democratic credentials and should treat India similarly the way US and other western countries has done.
Discuss the causes and ramification of hunger in Africa.
(Civil Services Exam 2005, 150 words)
Acute and chronic hunger is one of the critical issues in Africa. Its causes are complexly interwoven into various political, socio-economic and cultural realities. The ramification of hunger manifests itself into various forms in all aspects of life the people as well as international relations and geopolitics of the continent.
Colonial hangover, political instability, lack of democratic institutions, extreme climatic conditions, rise in dictatorial and authoritarian regimes and low level of human development indices are the major cause of hunger in Africa. Rampant boundary issues and ethnic conflicts among various tribes to grab the political power and rich natural resources have marginalized the local population and have made them vulnerable to hunger.
Ramifications of hunger are large scale malnutrition, high infant mortality rate, migration, ethnic tribal conflicts over the resources and malaise like drug trafficking, prostitution and AIDS. In the name of mitigating hunger various western countries are perpetuating their agenda to control the rich natural resources.
On the other hand various positive intervention by African Union, Red Cross, UNICEF and other international organizations and international communities have been designed to combat hunger.
Model Answers For Mains
Measures taken by the Indian Government to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean
((Civil Services UPSC Exam 2011-150 words)
Marine piracy has emerged as a huge threat to shipping community and international trade. In order to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean some of the measures taken by the Indian authorities are:
- The government has come up with the staunch anti piracy laws. Since earlier the laws exclusively dealing with piracy were missing, it was difficult to tackle the issue of anti piracy.
- The government has set up Inter-ministerial Group of Officers which is the main body responsible for taking pertinent decisions in case of emergency situations.
- Indian government has also deployed Indian war vessels in the oceanic area where piracy is highly rampant.
In your opinion were the positive steps taken by British to modernize India?
(Civil Services Exam 2003, 250 words)
All the policies and actions of the British Raj were aimed to consolidate British rule in India and to perpetuate the
interests of the colonial power. However, to some extent some of the positive steps modernize India as well.
The first positive step by British Raj was in the context of legal systems and laws in India. The concept like rule of
law and western judicial system was introduced by British Raj in India. These laws replaced the earlier archaic laws
and modernized the legal system but the main aim behind these was administrative ease for the alien rule.
The main aim behind the reform in Education can be best described by Macalay’s words that we need “Brown
Englishmen”. The aim to reform the education system in India was to produce an educated class that could be suitable
to perform petty administrative tasks at the same time would have high influence of British and western culture so that
a large market can created for British industries.
Likewise the communications and infrastructure advancement in the form of introduction of railways, telegraphs etc had
implicit strategic interests to strengthen British rule in India.
Thus the main aim of behind the so called positive policies of British raj was to strengthen the interests of imperial power.
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Evaluate the contribution of revolutionary terrorism represented by Baghat Singh to the cause of India’s struggle for Independence.
(Civil Services Exam 2008)
The freedom struggle led by Indian National Congress was based on tenets of non violence. On the other hand there was a section of freedom fighters which believed in the cult of pistol and bombs and did not hesitate to use violence against the British Raj. They wanted to use terror as a means to achieve the political goals by paralyzing the state machinery and intimidating British officers. Bhaghat Singh was the proponent of this ideology.
Apart from the goal of freedom Bhaghat Singh also envisaged a classless Indian society devoid of exploitation of all kinds. His ideas were much influenced by the socialism and Russian Revolution.
Under the leadership of Baghat Singh the revolutionaries formed Hindustan Republican Association in 1928. Among various other revolutionary activities, Saundrer’s murder and Assembly bombing made a huge impact on freedom movement in general and youths in particular.
The deep determination, courage, patriotism and sense of sacrifice of Baghat Singh and his collogues stirred the masses. They were first to demand Complete Independence and to a great extent the socialist consciousness among the masses in Northern India is their contribution.
Comment on the nature of Ordinance-making power of the President of India. What are the safeguards against their possible misuse?
(Civil Services Exam- 2001, 150 words)
The power to promulgate Ordinances by the President is mentioned in Article 123 of Indian Constitution. President can promulgate an Ordinance in case he is convinced that it is not possible to have the parliament enact on same subject immediately and the circumstance render it necessary for him to take immediate action.
Since it’s the prerogative of the Legislature and not the Executive to make the laws, and in case of Ordinance the Executive i.e. formulates the law, thus it is essential to have safeguards against its possible misuse.
There are safeguards which are explicitly mentioned in the constitution for the possible misuse of this. Firstly, the President can promulgate Ordinances only on the aid and advice of the council of ministers. Secondly parliament has the power to pass resolution disapproving the provisions of the ordinances. Thirdly, the ordinance automatically expires within six weeks of the reassembly of the houses of the parliament unless passed in the houses.
What is dry-land farming? Discuss its relevance in augmenting the food supply in India.
(Civil Services Exam- 2001, 150 marks)
The methods and techniques used for augmentation of cultivation in arid and semi arid zones (i.e. where annual precipitation is below 120 cms) are called dry land farming. Various water conservation techniques, specific irrigation facilities, drought resistant crops etc are the examples of dry land farming.
A large percentage of area in northern, north-western, western and central part of the country comes under the arid and semi arid zones. Dry land farming can enhance the production and productivity of food crops in these areas. This could augment the aggregate food grain production and therefore the food supply in the country. These techniques could also increase the chance of cultivation in the areas which are hitherto uncultivated.
The community based dry-land farming is also ecologically sustainable, thus it can cater to the needs of the forth coming generations as well in terms of food supply.
“The condition of urban poor is more deplorable than their rural counter parts”. Give your views.
(Civil Services Exam- 2008)
Poverty is urban areas result into higher vulnerability and marginalization as compared to rural poverty.
Apart from limited access to employment opportunities and income like their rural counterparts the urban poverty is also marred with high cost of living, greater exposure to hazardous violent and unhealthy environments.
For urban poor there are no or little social protection mechanisms. Urban poor do not have access to rich natural resources such as forests, ponds, rivers etc. The urban poor are more vulnerable to abuses like child labor, prostitution, beggary, drug addiction, AIDS and alcoholism.
The urban poor generally reside in slum dwelling, which are the symbol of exclusion and deplorable living conditions. These dwellings are thickly populated generally located in extremely polluted environment with unsafe shelters and little or no access to basic amenities like water supply, electricity, schools and toilets.
Majority of government aided developmental schemes target the rural poor. Thus it’s correct to say that the condition of urban poor is more deplorable than their rural counter parts.
Evolution of Green Benches in our higher Judiciary
(Civil Services Exam 2011)
Right to a wholesome environment is now an inferred fundamental right derived from Article 21. The apex court has widened the scope of Article 21, and has interpreted wholesome environment as a right essential for Right to Life. In this context the Supreme Court and the High Courts have now started to entertain the cases related to environment in their writ jurisdiction under Article 32 and Article 226 respectively. These courts have also started entertaining the issues related to environment through Public Interest Litigations.
In this context, National Green Tribunal has been established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources. The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavor for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
The environment sensitive laws and attitude of the judiciary would not only help in mitigation of Climate change and improve the quality of the life for citizens but would also have positive implications on the backward and marginalized communities in rural and tribal areas.
Benefits and potential drawbacks of ‘cash transfers’ to Below Poverty Line Households
(Civil Services Exam 2011)
Benefits of “Cash Transfer”
It is the easiest way to tackle issues like poverty, chronic hunger etc. The target group can be benefitted most easily through this. External factors such as infrastructure requirement etc are least required in these transfers. It gives choice to the targeted group to utilize the money as per their needs. It can also mitigate problems like migration.
Drawbacks of “Cash Transfers”
Cash transfers create dependency syndrome in the targeted population. Since the productivity, skills or infrastructure is not developed through cash transfers they can act as only short term measures rather than long term intervention for inclusive development. The issue of leakages and poor targeting is also associated with the cash transfers.
The winter rains in North India are largely related to Jet Stream and western disturbances. Bring out the relationship.
(Civil Services Exam 2008, 150 words)
Jet streams are the three dimensional movement of air mass from west to east at a high speed above the surface of the earth. Sub Tropical Easterly Jet Stream carries the turbulent weather conditions from Mediterranean region to the Indian sub-continent. The disturbances caused by the Mediterranean region are called western disturbances. These are responsible for the winter rains in north and north western part of the country.