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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 51, 02 September, 2020]


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Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

What do you understand by the below quote. Elaborate. “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi [10 marks, 150 words]


#Ethics # GS4

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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 51, 02 September, 2020]


Dear Students,
Please find below today’s answer for Daily Answer Writing Practice

What do you understand by the below quote. Elaborate. “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi(10 Marks)

Answer -
As a result of technology revolution, human being has become a strongest animal on the planet. And other animals are almost at the mercy of human beings. And when a human becomes the strongest force, it is their responsibility to act sensibly with concern and care for another living being. For any nation, these moral values are foundational. Hence in a nation, animals are treated with care and concern that they deserve, the people of that nation will certainly be judged as morally superior.

Morality in treating animal:
Whenever we need to talk about the relation between strong and weak, it has to depend upon moral values for it to be sustainable. The treatment of animals by a human has to be moral for it to be humane. Along with many other values following are major values that are required to be upheld in treating animals.

1. Compassion: The most crucial moral value, in this case, is compassion. It is always the responsibility of strong to be compassionate with the weak. Constitution of India to directs us to be compassionate to other living creatures.
2. Scientific approach: we also need to understand that animal also has life and has its existence. We need not to interfere with their existence. This when coupled with compassion, will indicate us that protecting their habitat is a most moral act that we can do.
3. Control over greed: Most of the human-animal conflict is the result of the greed of human being for resources. The instances of poaching of elephants and tigers are the most immoral and unethical acts of human beings.
4. Diversity: Existence of animal is a reflection of diversity on the planet. And it is our most humane and ethical fact that we need to uphold.

To protect and uphold these values, we need to be more humane in treating animals. This in turn will make our society more moral.

#Ethics # GS4

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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 52, 03 September, 2020]


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Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

The Anti defection law needs to strike a balance in between the need to curb the opportunistic political shifting on one hand and not reducing the Members to numbers on the other. Discuss. (10 Marks, 150 Words)


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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 52, 03 September, 2020]


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Please find below today’s answer for Daily Answer Writing Practice

The Anti defection law needs to strike a balance in between the need to curb the opportunistic political shifting on one hand and not reducing the Members to numbers on the other. Discuss. (10 Marks, 150 Words)

The Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on the grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House. It was inserted into the Constitution by 52nd Amendment Act 1985 and further intensified by the 91st Amendment Act 2003.

A legislator is deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or disobeys the directives of the party leadership on a vote. Also, members who have publicly expressed opposition to their party or support for another party were deemed to have resigned in some cases.

Why Balance Needed?

1. Use of party whips to curb legislators opinions

Political parties issue a direction to MPs on how to vote on most issues, irrespective of the nature of the issue. This is called Whip.

This restricts a legislator from voting in line with his conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate.

With whips, there is no need for ministers to individually reach out to legislators and persuade them about the merits of legislation or a policy move. When a government has a majority in the House, a minister can push through any policy or bill by issuing a whip..

2. Speaker's unlimited power in declaring defection

Initially, the decision of the Presiding Officer was not subject to judicial review but this condition was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1992..

But there can’t be any judicial intervention until the Presiding Officer gives his order. The law does not specify a time period for the Presiding Officer to decide on a disqualification plea which has resulted in members, who have defected from their parties, continuing to be members of the House.

Desired changes in Anti Defection law

● Rather than the Presiding Officer, the decision to disqualify a member should be made by the President (in case of MPs) or the Governor (in case of MLAs) on the advice of the Election Commission on the lines of disqualification due to the holding of Office of Profit.

● All disqualification petitions should be decided by the Presiding Officers within a specified time period instead of his own discretion.

● The law should be valid only for those votes that determine the stability of the government (passage of the annual budget or no-confidence motions)

In a deliberative democracy, debates and discussions are the key to framing strong laws. The anti-defection law far from helping democracy hurts it, by suppressing its deliberative quality, even squeezing the legislators to toe the executive line on every policy matter.
A balance between ensuring party discipline and maintaining government stability on one hand; and empowering our legislators to exercise their judgement and vote as per their conscience, on the other, must be determined.

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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 53, 04 September, 2020]

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Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

‘If Aurobindo was the high priest, Rabindranath, was the great poet of the Swadeshi Movement'. Discuss. [1990, 10m]

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The Daily Answer Writing Practice [Question 53, 04 September, 2020]

‘If Aurobindo was the high priest, Rabindranath, was the great poet of the Swadeshi Movement' [1990, 10m]

Answer:

The Swadeshi movement that began as the anti-partition movement in Bengal but soon spread out to various regions of India gave a great impetus to cultural nationalism through the patriotic literature which it brought into being.

Aurobindo Ghose as a high priest
Aurobindo Ghose expounded the religions and philosophical basis of nationalism and presented it as a sublime sentiment in human life.
• His literary talents blazed in his articles in the Bande Mataram.
• In Surat Congress (1906) he formulated the fourfold objectives of "Swaraj, Swadesh, Boycott, and national education".
• He gave the spiritual exposition to the idea of Indian nationalism which provided fervour required to reach the masses.
• For his contribution, he was called as “poet of patriotism and prophet of Indian nationalism” by CR Das.

Rabindra Nath as a great poet
Tagore’s poems during the Swadeshi movement were infused with patriotism and national consciousness. The ideas which inspired Bankim Chandra to write Bande Mataram hymn was expressed through the charming poems and songs by Rabindra Nath.
• He wrote extensively in Bhandar and Banga Darshan emphasising on fraternity and national consciousness.
• By singing patriotic songs in processions and tying Rakhi on hand, he evoked the spirit of national sentiment in the heart of everybody.
• He sang glories of ancient Indian culture and held vividly before the people the portraits of Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh as nation-builders.
• His famous swadeshi song “Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol” became an epitome of Hindu-Muslim solidarity.
• His great Baul songs describe the picturesque natural beauty of Bengal and like the national hymns evoke national spirit.
• He endorsed the students’ and women’s active participation through essays like “Brata Dharan‟.

Both Aurobindo and Tagore proved that ‘the pen is mightier than sword’. Their work was ably supplemented by others to foster nationalism through poems, essay, drama, history and novel during the Swadeshi movement.

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Additional Information

The contribution of Aurobindo to modern Indian political thought summarized under four headings

1. Spiritual Nationalism –
With a spiritual basis and cosmopolitan outlook, Aurobindo’s nationalism is a comprehensive and broad one. Unlike the western concept of nationalism which merely implies a common political sentiment he treated nationalism as a religion (divinity of the motherland) and a spiritual ‘Sadhana’.
Aurobindo provided an element of spiritualism to nationalism. In 1908 he said in a public meeting in Bombay, "Nationalism is not a mere political programme; Nationalism is a religion that has come from God; Nationalism is a creed which you shall have to live... Let no man dare to call himself a nationalist if he... does so merely with a sort of intellectual pride, thinking that his thinking is more patriotic and higher than those who do not call themselves by that name. If someone is going to be a Nationalist, he has to subscribe to this religion of nationalism in a religious spirit. You must remember that you are the instrument of God". He elevated the demand for national freedom to a religious faith of worship of motherland as Shakti so that the masses could be awakened.

2. Ideal of complete freedom
Aurobindo was the first Indian political leader to use the word "Independence" instead of "Swaraj'. He strongly believed that without political freedom, no real development is possible in India. Political freedom must precede socio-economic and administrative reforms. As he observed "Political freedom is the life-breath of a nation; to attempt social reform, educational reform, industrial expansion and moral improvement of the race without aiming first and foremost at political freedom is the very height of ignorance and futility".

3. Theory of passive resistance and boycott
Aurobindo explained the aim of passive resistance as "to make British administration impossible by an organized refusal to do anything which shall help the growth of British trade and commerce resulting in the exploitation of the country". Aurobindo made it clear that the passive resistance may turn to be violent in case of ruthless suppression by the ruler. In this way it differed from Gandhiji's technique of non-violent resistance. Aurobindo realized that his idea of passive resistance would be successful if there was boycott of British in every field. Along with his theory of economic boycott, he put forward his views on national education. Along with his theory of economic boycott, he stressed the necessity of Swadeshi. Along with educational boycott, he put forward his views on national education. Along with judicial boycott, he emphasized the necessity of setting up national arbitration courts. He also asked for social boycott of those Indians who did not support the cause of non-cooperation with the British.

4. Vision for India
At a time when British rule in India was firmly and securely established, Aurobindo had the breadth of vision to foresee India as a free nation and her contribution to the world community. He felt that India had a spiritual message which was urgently needed by the people of the world. He was convinced that a free India was to fulfil her true destiny in the international community. He advocated the concept of human unity. He pleaded for independence for India in the wider interest of the humanity. He said "Our ideal of patriotism proceeds on the basis of love and brotherhood and it looks beyond the unity of the nation and envisages the ultimate unity of mankind…. it is a unity of brothers, equal and free men that we seek, not the unity of master and serf, of devourer and devoured"

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Dear Students,

A lot of you asked me, over call and personal messages, about mind map technique to summarize the topic in one page. Some queries were also about methods of reading/studying new chapters.

I am posting one of my lectures here. It will surely help you.

The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 54, 05 September, 2020]

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Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

What is inversion of temperature? Discuss the various mechanisms of occurrence of this phenomenon along with its climatic and economic significance.. [15m]

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What is inversion of temperature? Discuss the various mechanisms of occurrence of this phenomenon along with its climatic and economic significance. [15m]

Temperature inversion is a reversal of the normal behavior of temperature in the troposphere, in which a layer of cool air at the surface is overlain by a layer of warmer air. (Under normal conditions, temperature usually decreases with height).

Mechanisms:
1) Surface Temperature Inversion: Surface temperature inversion develops when air is cooled by contact with a colder surface until it becomes cooler than the overlying atmosphere; this occurs most often on clear nights, when the ground cools off rapidly by radiation.
2) Upper Surface Temperature Inversion: When a widespread layer of air descends, it is compressed and heated by the resulting increase in atmospheric pressure, and as a result the lapse rate of temperature is reduced. The air at higher altitudes becomes warmer than at lower altitudes, producing a temperature inversion.
3) Air Drainage Type of Inversion: Sometimes, the temperature in the lower layers of air increases instead of decreasing with elevation. This happens commonly along a sloping surface. Here, the surface radiates heat back to space rapidly and cools down at a faster rate than the upper layers. As a result the lower cold layers get condensed and become heavy.
4) Frontal inversion: When the warm and cold fronts meet, then the warm front rises up and being heavier the cold front sinks down. It results in formation of Frontal Inversion.

Climatic significance:
1) Inversions play an important role in determining cloud forms, precipitation, and visibility.
2) In regions where a pronounced low-level inversion is present, convective clouds cannot grow high enough to produce showers.
3) Inversions also affect diurnal variations in temperature. Diurnal variations tend to be very small.

Economic Significance:
1) Sometimes, the temperature of the air at the valley bottom reaches below freezing point, whereas the air at higher altitude remains comparatively warm. As a result, the trees along the lower slopes are bitten by frost, whereas those at higher levels are free from it.
2) Due to inversion of temperature, air pollutants such as dust particles and smoke do not disperse in the valley bottoms. Because of these factors, houses and farms in intermontane valleys are usually situated along the upper slopes, avoiding the cold and foggy valley bottoms. For instance, coffee growers of Brazil and apple growers and hoteliers of mountain states of Himalayas in India avoid lower slopes.
3) Fog lowers visibility affecting vegetation and human settlements.
4) Less rainfall due to stable conditions.


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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 56, 07 September 2020]

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Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

After remaining peripheral to India’s foreign policy priorities, the Indian Ocean has received some attention in recent years. Nonetheless, given the significance it holds, involvement of actors with diverse interests and existing challenges, it is imperative that India redoubles its efforts in shaping the future of the region. Discuss. [15marks, 250 words]


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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 56, 07 September 2020]

Dear Students,
Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

Question 56: After remaining peripheral to India’s foreign policy priorities, the Indian Ocean has received some attention in recent years. Nonetheless, given the significance it holds, involvement of actors with diverse interests and existing challenges, it is imperative that India redoubles its efforts in shaping the future of the region. Discuss. [15marks, 250 words].

India has long been preoccupied by continental considerations as such for most of the history of independent India the Indian Ocean received scant and sporadic attention. Focus on international normative issues such as non-alignment or preoccupation with South Asian neighborhood left little space for a systematic and sustained policy on Indian Ocean Even though the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IO-ARC) was indeed set up in 1995, it became quickly neglected by India and other members.

In recent years, however, India has begun to re-evaluate its priorities and the Indian Ocean has been increasingly viewed through the prism of geography of opportunity, especially since the beginning of the 21st century. Following steps signal the significance accorded to the Indian Ocean by India:


• India published Indian maritime doctrine (2004) and India’s maritime military strategy (2007)

• Multilateral ‘Milan naval ‘exercises in the Bay of Bengal have been organized by India

• India took a leading role in setting up the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in 2008. This was a forum in which India immediately exerted a degree of unofficial pre-eminence.

A realization dawned upon that it is critical for the success for India’s ‘look east’, ‘look west’ and ‘look south’ policy. A major concern of India in the Indian Ocean is energy. India is almost 70 per cent dependent on oil import, major part of which comes from gulf region. Today, 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 68 per cent of trade by value come via the Indian Ocean. The following factors added to the importance of the region.

Diverse interests in IOR

• Filling up of void in the region by China. Now an even greater push is coming through the Maritime Silk Route (MSR), as part of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.

• Increased activities among multiple foreign navies for several reasons, including anti-piracy missions, protecting Sea Lines of Communication. Navies of more than 40 countries now operate in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

• In many areas the littoral countries lack a vision of the region as a common system in which they face shared risks and vulnerabilities.

The Indian Ocean can be India’s ocean if New Delhi works towards cooperation by working on issues of common concern.

• Preserving freedom of navigation for commercial shipping.

• Sustainably and equitably harnessing the Indian Ocean’s natural resources.

• Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations Countering piracy, terrorism, smuggling, and illegal weapons proliferation.

• Managing international Naval competition.

For this, India needs to redouble its efforts and work with other like -minded countries operating in the region.

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The Daily Answer Writing Practice
[Question 57, 08 September 2020]

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Please find below today’s question for Daily Answer Writing Practice

Critically analyse the women’s movement in post independent era. [15marks, 250 words]

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The Daily Answer Writing Practice [Question 57, 08 September 2020]

Critically analyse the women’s movement in post independent era. [15marks, 250 words]
Answer:

After independence, the gender issues were subsumed in overbearing economic and development-related concerns.

The emergence of a welfare state affected the contours of Indian women’s movement. The constitution guaranteed equal rights and a series of legislations (e.g. Hindu Marriage Act, Dowry Prohibition Act and Equal Remuneration Act) were passed. However, the period from the late 1960s was marked by an economic crisis and stagnation leading to generalised discontent both in rural and urban areas which led to increased concern for equity and poverty alleviation. Thus, women participated (politically and otherwise) in general struggle of the rural poor, tribals and industrial working class. (e.g. Shramik Mahila Sangathana).

Since 1970s, India witnessed the emergence of autonomous women’s movement. NGOs started emphasising on women’s development and provided women avenues of collectively voicing their concerns. Grass root organisations started questioning the welfare approach and incorporated an empowerment-participatory approach. The myth of equality for women was shattered by the path breaking, Towards Equality Report of 1974. The year 1975 was also declared as the International Women’s Year (which was later extended to a decade).

Various kinds of women’s autonomous organisations have come up – for propaganda, awareness, research and documentation, for grass-root mobilisation, for service provisions, for providing professional help, political fronts etc. (e.g. Saheli, Manushi, Stri Shakti, Stri Mukti Sangathana, Pennurimai Iyyakam)

Equal wages in fields and workshops, working women’s hostels, legal facilities and trade union rights are not available to women. Mortality rate, violence against women due to dowry deaths, wife battering, mass rape during caste and communal riots were the issues that are being taken up. Along with these, poverty and deprivation affect the conditions of dalit and tribal women, many of whom are forced to prostitution.

In the academic field, women’s studies became an upcoming field since the 1970s. The autonomous movements besides creating general consciousness among women, exposed the conservatism of the judiciary as in the Mathura Rape case. These have also given rise to special interest groups involved in the anti-dowry and anti-rape campaigns. As a result of the pressure created by the women’s movements, amendments in the laws regarding rape, dowry, marriage etc. were made (e,g post-Nirbhaya Criminal Act Amendment).

During the post 1990s era, newer issues are coming up – identity politics, pulls of globalisation and neo-liberal reforms, sexual harassment and glass ceiling at modern workplaces, pink jobs and segmentation, LGBTQI, media objectification etc.

Women’s movement has been the force behind the long struggle of women’s advancement from subordination to gender equality and finally to women’s empowerment. Though a lot needs to be achieved, it has brought women’s issues centre stage and made them more visible.

#GS1 #Society

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Dear students, for today, we will not be able to upload a new question. The activities will continue usually from tomorrow..

Hello All,

This is the updated schedule for our daily answer writing programme.

We were initially thinking to take a break for two weeks before Prelims. However, we have a sizeable number of aspirants preparing for 2021 as well. They need to continue their daily answer writing.

The updated schedule brings us till the Prelims.

Keep Writing.