[19th July 2020]: [Model Answer] What is environmental nanotechnology? Discuss with suitable examples [10 marks, 150 words]

Environmental nanotechnology refers to use of nanotech products, processes and applications for environmental and climate protection.
It may contribute by cleaning the pollutants, reducing the pollutants, making our devices more efficient and reducing cost of green technologies.

Examples of environmental nanotechnology:
i. Ensuring Potable Drinking Water – Use of Graphene based water filters are expected to increase the accessibility of clean drinking water in coming future

ii. Removing pollutants from water
♣ Cleaning up organic chemicals polluting ground water
 Iron nanoparticles can be used to effectively clean-up organic solvents that are polluting the ground water. The nanoparticles disperse throughout the water and decompose the organic solvents in place. This method is more effective and costs significantly less than treatment methods that require the water to be pumped out of ground.
♣ Cleaning up of oil spills
 Using photocatalytic cooper tungsten oxide nanoparticles to break down oil into bio-degradable compounds.

iii. Generating Less pollution during manufacturing of materials
♣ E.g. Use of silver nano particles as catalysts can significantly reduce the polluting by products in the process used to manufacture propylene oxide.

iv. Producing solar cells that generate electricity at competitive cost
♣ E.g. Silicon nanowires embedded in a polymer result in low cost but high efficiency solar cells.

v. Increasing the electricity generated by windmills
♣ E.g. use of carbon nanotubes in windmill blades results in stronger and lower weight windmill blades. This helps in more amount of electricity generated by each windmill.

vi. Reducing cost of fuel cells
♣ Changing the spacing of platinum atom in fuel cells increases the catalytic ability of the platinum. This allows the fuel cells to function with 80% less platinum, significantly reducing the cost of the fuel cells.

Conclusion: Nanotechnology is thus brimming with potential solutions for various environmental and climate change related issues being faced by India. It’s high time that India’s Mission on Nano Science and Technology is restructured to include R&D in the field of environment as one of its key goals.

#GS3 # Science and Technology 
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Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 8, 20th July 2020]

Dear Students,
Please find below the question for daily answer writing practice for today.

Q 8. Monsoon pattern has been changing in recent years in India. Examine. Discuss the temporal and Spatial variation of rainfall in India. (250 words, 15 marks).

Model Answer would be posted after 8 pm today.

#GS1 #Geography
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[Question 8, 20th July 2020]

Q 8. Monsoon pattern has been changing in recent years in India. Examine. Discuss the temporal and Spatial variation of rainfall in India. (250 words, 15 marks).

Monsoon refers to a system of wind in which there is a complete reversal of direction with the change of season. There is a consensus that monsoon in India is changing in terms of intensity, duration, frequency and spatial distribution:

1. The frequency of floods in the northwest and northeast while rainfall deficit in the south has increased.
2. Rainfall extremes have increased threefold over the last few years.
3. The onset of the monsoon has been delayed due to a regime shift in climate i-e from a weak to strong EI Nino period.
4. Monsoon has also been ending sooner thereby reducing the length of the rainy season.
5. Monsoon seasons are witnessing random ‘break periods’ when there is little to no rainfall.

There are various reasons for the change in the Monsoon pattern:
1. Frequent El-Nino and La-Nina, The Indian Ocean dipole, and the Atlantic Nino.
2. ‘Break periods’ are associated with rainfall system moving northwards from the equatorial region.
3. The high rate of deforestation.
4. The ripple effects of global warming and climate change.

Thus, it becomes important for India to work towards restoring the balance of nature in collaboration with other countries, so that monsoon pattern does not change permanently.


The average annual rainfall is about 125 cm, but it has great spatial and temporal variations.

Temporal Variation

The distribution of rainfall varies temporally as per annual cycle of seasons. The meteorologists recognized four seasons. The rainfall in these seasons varies in the following manner:

1. Cold Weather Season

• Some weak temperate cyclones from Mediterranean Sea cause rainfall in north-western India, which are called Western Disturbances.
• Little rainfall in some parts of India.

2. Hot Weather Season

• A sudden contact between dry and moist air masses give rise to local storms which are associated with torrential rainfalls.

3. Southwest Monsoon Season

• Over 80% of the annual rainfall is received in the four rainy months of June- September.
• The Monsoon may burst in the first week of June in the coastal areas of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra while in the interior parts of the country, it may be delayed to the first week of July.
• Monsoon rainfall is largely governed by relief or topography and rainfall has a declining trend with increasing distance from the sea.

4. Retreating Monsoon

• By the end of September, the monsoon becomes weak in response to the southward march of the sun.
• The weather is dry in north India but is associated with rain in the eastern part of the peninsula.

Spatial Distribution

1. Areas of High rainfall (over 200 cm): Highest rainfall occurs along the mountain ranges obstructing the approaching moist winds, like the west coast, as well as in the sub-Himalayan areas in the northeast.

2. Areas of Medium rainfall (100-200 cm): In the southern parts of Gujarat, east Tamil Nadu, northeastern peninsula covering Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, eastern Madhya Pradesh, northern Ganga Plain along the sub-Himalayas and the Cachar Valley.

3. Areas of low rainfall (50-100 cm): Most of the regions having the effect of continentality like Western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, eastern Rajasthan, Gujarat and Deccan Plateau.

4. Areas of Inadequate rainfall (less than 50 cm): These are arid regions lying in the interior parts of the peninsula, especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, Ladakh and most of the Rajasthan.

In north India, rainfall decreases westwards and in peninsula India, except Tamil Nadu, it decreases eastwards.

Model Answer would be posted after 8 pm today.
#GS1 # Geography
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since, I was not able to copy Map, I am uploading PDF file of Toda's answer also

Geography Answer 20th July

Use Keywords in answer to increase the marks

Warning to the students, don't go for cut, copy and paste

[Question 9, 21st July, 2020]

Dear Students, 
Please find below today's question for the daily answer writing practice:

"Shared Strategic concerns, deeper people-to-people contacts and economic ties are driving the Indo-Australia cooperation" Elaborate [10 marks, 150 words]

Please submit your answers before 8 pm @AnswerWritingDailyDiscuss

Model Answer would be posted after 8 pm today and no evaluation would be done after that.

#GS2 #IR
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[21st July 2020]: Daily Answer Writing Practice
"Shared Strategic concerns, deeper people-to-people contacts, and economic ties are driving the Indo-Australia cooperation" Elaborate [10 marks, 150 words] [#GS2 #IR]

Later half of the 20th century saw emergence of an indifference and sometimes hostility in Indo-Australian relations. This was mostly due to cold war politics, India’s Nuclear ambitions and absence of economic content in the bilateral ties.

This has changed over the last decade and the relations between the two countries has been intensifying mostly because of the following factors:
1) Strategic Reasons – China’s aggressive & assertive foreign policy; and vacillation of Trump led USA’s commitment to Indo-Pacific, have left middle powers like India and Australia worried. This has brought them closer which is clearly manifested in the recent upgradation of ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Increased military exercises (e.g. AUSINDEX in 2019), upgradation of 2+2 dialogue to ministerial level, finalization of Mutual logistic support agreement and most importantly the beginning of Quad Security Dialogue.

2) Increased People to People Contact: Around 3% (more than 7,00,000) of Australia’s population is of Indian origin, more and more students from India are going to Australia for higher studies, Tourism and cultural contacts have also enhanced.

3) Economic Cooperation – Though, the current bilateral trade (around $20 billion) is way below potential, but both the countries see a bright economic future with each other. India Economy Strategy, 2035 – a report recently published by Australia have identified India as economic partner with highest potential in coming decades. The recent decision to resume discussions on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement also reflects the same

The successful virtual summit in June 2020 was a manifestation of this strengthening of relations b/w the two countries. Dedicated attention and political leadership will take the bilateral ties to the next level.

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How to approach 10 marks and 15 marks Question

Hello all,
This is the first audio in the Answer Writing Series.
I have made it after listening to the common problems that students face in order to get to the discipline of answer writing.
Please listen it to.
I hope it will help you all.
If you want us to make audio please, let us know.
As stated in the audio, I am sharing the marksheet for all of you to understand the importance of anwer writing.

Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 10, 22nd July 2020]

Dear Students,
Please find below the question for daily answer writing practice for today.

Q10. What do you understand by patriarchy? Explain the difference in the manner in which it influences the rural and urban women respectively. [10 marks, 150 words]

Model Answer would be posted after 8 pm today.

#GS1 #Society
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Q10. What do you understand by patriarchy? Explain the difference in the manner in which it influences the rural and urban women respectively. [10 marks, 150 words]

Patriarchy is a social institution marked by the supremacy of the male members. Fathers hold power over the families in general and male members exercise authority over female through property rights, social privileges and moral authority.

Although it affects all women in one way or another, its impact varies from place to place and class to class; and largely depends upon the difference in the nature of economic activities and the extent of traditional culture. In some way, its impact on urban and rural women is similar, while in other ways it's different.

• In rural areas, women generally live in joint families and are subjected to multiple structures of dominations. In city-based nuclear families, such domination is less acute.
• Many traditional patriarchal norms like dowry, child marriage, preference to male heir etc. are more prevalent in rural society compared to urban India.
• Patriarchy majorly works through the caste system in rural societies while in urban society, class norms dominate.
• Rural to urban migration of the male population leads to changes in the roles and responsibilities of women. They have to manage the household as well as agricultural activities. Yet they don’t assume the role of the head of the families in villages.
• Rural women rarely stay at home but they are principally engaged in unpaid labour (household as well as agricultural works). In cities, one finds middle-class women either stay at home or are engaged in all domains of work. However, such activities are paid employments.
• In villages, there is a trend of feminisation of agriculture while in the cities, the women tend to be segmented in certain service sector jobs more often.

However, as the cities generally provide better education, less societal control and paid employment, women get more options for social mobility and empowerment.

As the world gets more connected, various global feminist movements also make a direct impact in the cities first. Yet, it’s a long way to go to abolish completely the institution of patriarchy which is as old as human society.

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[Question 11, 23rd July, 2020]

Dear Students, 
Please find below today's question for the daily answer writing practice:

[Ques-11]: "Allowing private players to operate passenger trains in India will negatively hamper the inclusive and welfare approach of the Indian Railways" Critically Analyze [10 marks, 150 words]

Please submit your answers before 8 pm @AnswerWritingDailyDiscuss

Model Answer would be posted after 8 pm today and no evaluation would be done after that.

#GS3 #Economy
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Model Answer: [23rd July 2020]