Mains 2024 questions

Underline the changes in the field of society and economy from the Rig Vedic to the later Vedic period.

Estimate the contribution of Pallavas of Kanchi for the development of art and literature of South India.

What were the events that led to the Quit India Movement? Point out its results.

What is sea surface temperature rise? How does it affect the formation of tropical cyclones?

Why do large cities tend to attract more migrants than smaller towns? Discuss in the light of conditions in developing countries.

What is the phenomenon of ‘cloudbursts’? Explain.

What is the concept of a ‘demographic winter’? Is the world moving towards such a situation? Elaborate.

Distinguish between gender equality, gender equity and women’s empowerment. Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?

Intercaste marriages between castes which have socio-economic parity have increased, to some extent, but this is less true of interreligious marriages. Discuss.

In dealing with socio-economic issues of development, what kind of collaboration between government, NGOs and private sector would be most productive?

“Though the great Cholas are no more yet their name is still remembered with great pride because of their highest achievements in the domain of art and architecture.” Comment.

How far is it correct to say that the First World War was fought essentially for the preservation of balance of power?

How far was the Industrial Revolution in England responsible for the decline of handicrafts and cottage industries in India?

The groundwater potential of the gangetic valley is on a serious decline. How may it affect the food security of India?

What are aurora australis and aurora borealis? How are these triggered?

What is a twister? Why are the majority of twisters observed in areas around the Gulf of Mexico?

What is regional disparity? How does it differ from diversity? How serious is the issue of regional disparity in India?

Despite comprehensive policies for equity and social justice, underprivileged sections are not yet getting the full benefits of affirmative action envisaged by the Constitution. Comment.

Globalization has increased urban migration by skilled, young, unmarried women from various classes. How has this trend impacted upon their personal freedom and relationship with family?

Critically analyse the proposition that there is a high correlation between India’s cultural diversities and socio-economic marginalities.

Examine the need for electoral reforms as suggested by various committees with particular reference to “one nation — one election” principle.

Explain and distinguish between Lok Adalats and Arbitration Tribunals. Whether they entertain civil as well as criminal cases?

“The growth of cabinet system has practically resulted in the marginalisation of the parliamentary supremacy.” Elucidate.

“The duty of the Comptroller and Auditor General is not merely to ensure the legality of expenditure but also its propriety.” Comment.

Analyse the role of local bodies in providing good governance at local level and bring out the pros and cons merging the rural local bodies with the urban local bodies.

Public charitable trusts have the potential to make India’s development more inclusive as they relate to certain vital public issues. Comment.

Poverty and malnutrition create a vicious cycle, adversely affecting human capital formation. What steps can be taken to break the cycle?

The Doctrine of Democratic Governance makes it necessary that the public perception of the integrity and commitment of civil servants becomes absolutely positive. Discuss.

‘The West is fostering India as an alternative to reduce dependence on China’s supply chain and as a strategic ally to counter China’s political and economic dominance.’ Explain this statement with examples.

Critically analyse India’s evolving diplomatic, economic and strategic relations with the Central Asian Republics (CARs) highlighting their increasing significance in regional and global geopolitics.

What are the aims and objects of recently passed and enforced, The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024? Whether University/State Education Board examinations, too, are covered under the Act?

Right to privacy is intrinsic to life and personal liberty and is inherently protected under Article 21 of the constitution. Explain. In this reference discuss the law relating to D.N.A. testing of child in the womb to establish its paternity.

What changes has the Union Government recently introduced in the domain of Centre-State relations? Suggest measures to be adopted to build the trust between the Centre and the States and for strengthening federalism.

Explain the reasons for the growth of public interest litigation in India. As a result of it, has the Indian Supreme Court emerged as the world’s most powerful judiciary?

Discuss India as a secular state and compare with the secular principles of the US constitution.

The Citizens’ charter has been a landmark initiative in ensuring citizen-centric administration. But it is yet to reach its full potential. Identify the factors hindering the realisation of its promise and suggest measures to overcome them.

In a crucial domain like the public healthcare system the Indian State should play a vital role to contain the adverse impact of marketisation of the system. Suggest some measures through which the State can enhance the reach of public healthcare at the grassroots level.

e-governance is not just about the routine application of digital technology in service delivery process. It is as much about multifarious interactions for ensuring transparency and accountability. In this context evaluate the role of the ‘Interactive Service Model’ of e-governance.

‘Terrorism has become a significant threat to global peace and security.’ Evaluate the effectiveness of the United Nations Security Council’s Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) and its associated bodies in addressing and mitigating this threat at the international level.

Discuss the geopolitical and geostrategic importance of Maldives for India with a focus on global trade and energy flows. Further also discuss how this relationship affects India’s maritime security and regional stability amidst international competition?

Examine the pattern and trend of public expenditure on social services in the post-reforms period in India. To what extent this has been in consonance with achieving the objective of inclusive growth?

What are the causes of persistent high food inflation in India? Comment on the effectiveness of the monetary policy of the RBI to control this type of inflation.

What were the factors responsible for the successful implementation of land reforms in some parts of the country? Elaborate.

Explain the role of millets for ensuring health and nutritional security in India.

What is the present world scenario of intellectual property rights with respect to life materials? Although, India is second in the world to file patents, still only a few have been commercialized. Explain the reasons behind this less commercialization.

What is the technology being employed for electronic toll collection on highways? What are its advantages and limitations? What are the proposed changes that will make this process seamless? Would this transition carry any potential hazards?

Industrial pollution of river water is a significant environmental issue in India. Discuss the various mitigation measures to deal with this problem and also the government’s initiatives in this regard.

What role do environmental NGOs and activists play in influencing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) outcomes for major projects in India? Cite four examples with all important details.

Explain how narco-terrorism has emerged as a serious threat across the country. Suggest suitable measures to counter narco-terrorism.

Describe the context and salient features of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Discuss the merits and demerits of the four ‘Labour Codes’ in the context of labour market reforms in India. What has been the progress so far in this regard?

What is the need for expanding the regional air connectivity in India? In this context, discuss the government’s UDAN Scheme and its achievements.

What are the major challenges faced by Indian irrigation system in recent times? State the measures taken by the government for efficient irrigation management.

Elucidate the importance of buffer stocks for stabilizing agricultural prices in India. What are the challenges associated with the storage of buffer stock? Discuss.

The world is facing an acute shortage of clean and safe freshwater. What are the alternative technologies which can solve this crisis? Briefly discuss any three such technologies citing their key merits and demerits.

What are asteroids? How real is the threat of them causing extinction of life? What strategies have been developed to prevent such a catastrophe?

What is disaster resilience? How is it determined? Describe various elements of a resilience framework. Also mention the global targets of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030).

Flooding in urban areas is an emerging climate-induced disaster. Discuss the causes of this disaster. Mention the features of two such major floods in the last two decades in India. Describe the policies and frameworks in India that aim at tackling such floods.

India has a long and troubled border with China and Pakistan fraught with contentious issues. Examine the conflicting issues and security challenges along the border. Also give out the development being undertaken in these areas under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) and Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM) Scheme.

Social media and encrypting messaging services pose a serious security challenge. What measures have been adopted at various levels to address the security implications of social media? Also suggest any other remedies to address the problem.

The application of Artificial Intelligence as a dependable source of input for administrative rational decision-making is a debatable issue. Critically examine the statement from the ethical point of view.

“Ethics encompasses several key dimensions that are crucial in guiding individuals and organizations towards morally responsible behaviour.” Explain the key dimensions of ethics that influence human actions. Discuss how these dimensions shape ethical decision-making in the professional context.

“It is not enough to talk about peace, one must believe in it; and it is not enough to believe in it, one must act upon it.” In the present context, the major weapon industries of the developed nations are adversely influencing continuation of number of wars for their own self-interest, all around the world. What are the ethical considerations of the powerful nations in today’s international arena to stop continuation of ongoing conflicts?

Global warming and climate change are the outcomes of human greed in the name of development, indicating the direction in which extinction of organisms including human beings is heading towards loss of life on Earth. How do you put an end to this to protect life and bring equilibrium between the society and the environment?

“In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” — Immanuel Kant

“Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it, do not become others.” — Swami Vivekananda

“Faith is of no avail in the absence of strength. Faith and strength, both are essential to accomplish any great work.” — Sardar Patel

“The concept of Just and Unjust is contextual. What was just a year back, may turn out to be unjust in today’s context. Changing context should be constantly under scrutiny to prevent miscarriage of justice.” Examine the above statement with suitable examples.

“Mindless addiction to Form, ignoring the Substance of the matter, results in rendering of injustice. A perceptive civil servant is one who ignores such literalness and carries out true intent.” Examine the above statement with suitable illustrations.

The ‘Code of Conduct’ and ‘Code of Ethics’ are the sources of guidance in public administration. There is code of conduct already in operation, whereas code of ethics is not yet put in place. Suggest a suitable model for code of ethics to maintain integrity, probity and transparency in governance.

The soul of the new law, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is Justice, Equality and Impartiality based on Indian culture and ethos. Discuss this in the light of major shift from a doctrine of punishment to justice in the present judicial system.

“In Indian culture and value system, an equal opportunity has been provided irrespective of gender identity. The number of women in public service has been steadily increasing over the years.” Examine the gender-specific challenges faced by female public servants and suggest suitable measures to increase their efficiency in discharging their duties and maintaining high standards of probity.

Mission Karmayogi is aiming for maintaining a very high standard of conduct and behaviour to ensure efficiency for serving citizens and in turn developing oneself. How will this scheme empower the civil servants in enhancing productive efficiency and delivering the services at the grassroots level?

There is a technological company named ABC Incorporated which is the second largest worldwide, situated in the Third World. You are the Chief Executive Officer and the majority shareholder of this company. The fast technological improvements have raised worries among environmental activists, regulatory authorities, and the general public over the sustainability of this scenario. You confront substantial issues about the business’s environmental footprint. In 2023, your organization had a significant increase of 48% in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the levels recorded in 2019. The significant rise in energy consumption is mainly due to the surging energy requirements of your data centers, fuelled by the exponential expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI-powered services need much more computational resources and electrical energy compared to conventional online activities, notwithstanding their notable gains. The technology’s proliferation has led to a growing concern over the environmental repercussions, resulting in an increase in warnings. AI models, especially those used in extensive machine learning and data processing, exhibit much greater energy consumption than conventional computer tasks, with an exponential increase.
Although there is already a commitment and goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, the challenge of lowering emissions seems overwhelming as the integration of AI continues to increase. To achieve this goal, substantial investments in renewable energy use would be necessary. The difficulty is exacerbated by the competitive environment of the technology sector, where rapid innovation is essential for preserving market standing and shareholders’ worth. To achieve a balance between innovation, profitability and sustainability, a strategic move is necessary that is in line with both, business objectives and ethical obligations.
(a) What is your immediate response to the challenges posed in the above case?
(b) Discuss the ethical issues involved in the above case.
(c) Your company has been identified to be penalized by technological giants. What logical and ethical arguments will you put forth to convince about its necessity?
(d) Being a conscience being, what measures would you adopt to maintain balance between AI innovation and environmental footprint?

Raman is a senior IPS officer and has recently been posted as D.G. of a state. Among the various issues and problems/challenges which needed his immediate attention, the issue relating to recruitment of unemployed youth by an unknown terrorist group, was a matter of grave concern.
It was noted that unemployment was relatively high in the state. The problem of unemployment amongst graduates and those with higher education was much more grave. Thus they were vulnerable and soft targets.
In the review meeting taken by him with senior officers of DIG Range and above, it came to light that a new terrorist group has emerged at the global level. It has launched a massive drive to recruit young unemployed people. Special focus was to pick young people from a particular community. The said organisation seemed to have the clear objective of utilising/using them for carrying out militant activities. It was also gathered that the said (new) group is desperately trying to spread its tentacles in his state.
A definite/reliable intelligence tip was received by the State CID and Cyber Cell that a large number of such unemployed youth have already been contacted by the terrorist outfit/group through social media and local communal organisations and other contacts. The need of the hour was to act swiftly and to check these elements/designs before they assume serious proportions.
Discrete inquiries made by the police, through the Cyber Cell, revealed that good numbers of unemployed youth are very active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On an average, many of them were spending 6—8 hours each day, using electronic devices/internet, etc. It also came to light that such unemployed youth were showing sympathy and endorsing the messages received from certain persons, allegedly the contact persons of that global terrorist group. Their social media accounts revealed their strong affinity to such groups inasmuch as many of them started forwarding anti-national tweets on their WhatsApp and Facebook, etc. It seemed that they succumbed to their ploy and started propagating secessionist ideology. Their posts were hyper-critical of the government’s initiatives, policies and subscribing to extreme beliefs and promoting extremism.
(a) What are the options available to Raman to tackle the above situation?
(b) What measures would you suggest for strengthening the existing set-up to ensure that such groups do not succeed in penetrating and vitiating the atmosphere in the state?
(c) In the above scenario, what action plan would you advise for enhancing the intelligence gathering mechanism of the police force?

With multipronged strategy of the Central and State Governments specially in the last few years, the naxalite problem has been resolved to a large extent in the affected states of the country. However, there are a few pockets in certain states where naxalite problem still persists, mainly due to involvement of foreign countries. Rohit is posted as SP (Special Operations) for the last one year, in one of the districts which is still affected by the naxalite problem. The district administration has taken a lot of developmental works in the recent past in the naxalite affected areas to win the hearts and minds of the people. Over a period of time, Rohit has established an excellent intelligence network to get the real time information regarding the movement of naxalite cadre. To instill confidence in the public and have moral ascendancy over the naxalites, a number of cordons and search operations are being conducted by the police. Rohit, who himself was leading one of the contingents got a message though his intelligence source that about ten hard core naxalites were hiding in a particular village with sophisticated weapons. Without wasting any time, Rohit reached the target village with his team and laid out a foolproof cordon and started carrying out a systematic search. During the search, his team managed to overpower all the naxalites along with their automatic weapons. However, in the meantime, more than five hundred tribal women surrounded the village and started marching towards the target house. They were shouting and demanding the immediate release of insurgents since they are their protectors and saviours. The situation on the ground was becoming very critical as the tribal women were extremely agitated and aggressive. Rohit tried to contact his superior officer, IG (Special Operations) of the state on the radio set and on mobile phone, but failed to do so due to poor connectivity. Rohit was in great dilemma since out of the naxalites apprehended, two were not only hard core top insurgents with prize money of ₹ ten lakhs on their heads, but were also involved in a recent ambush on the security forces. However, if he did not release the naxalites, the situation could get out of control since the tribal women were aggressively charging towards them. In that case, to control the situation Rohit might have to resort to firing which may lead to valuable loss of lives of civilians and would further complicate the situation.
(a) What are the options available with Rohit to cope with the situation?
(b) What are the ethical dilemmas being faced by Rohit?
(c) Which of the options, do you think, would be more appropriate for Rohit to adopt and why?
(d) In the present situation, what are the extra precautionary measures to be taken by the police in dealing with women protesters?

Sneha is a Senior Manager working for a big reputed hospital chain in a mid-sized city. She has been made in-charge of the new super speciality center that the hospital is building with state-of-the art equipment and world class medical facilities. The building has been reconstructed and she is starting the process of procurement for various equipment and machines. As the head of the committee responsible for procurement, she has invited bids from all the interested reputed vendors dealing in medical equipment. She notices that her brother, who is a well-known supplier in this domain, has also sent his expression of interest. Since the hospital is privately owned, it is not mandatory for her to select only the lower bidder. Also, she is aware that her brother’s company has been facing some financial difficulties and a big supply order will help him recover. At the same time, allocating the contract to her brother might bring charges of favouritism against her and tarnish her image. The hospital management trusts her fully and would support any decision of hers.
(a) What should be Sneha’s course of action?
(b) How would she justify what she chooses to do?
(c) In this case, how is medical ethics compromised with vested personal interest?

With the summer heat being exceptionally severe this year, the district has been facing severe water shortage. The District Collector has been mobilizing his subordinate officials to conserve the remaining water reserves for preventing the district from plunging into acute drinking water crisis. Along with an awareness campaign for conserving water, strict measures have been taken for stopping the over-exploitation of ground-water. Vigilance teams have been deployed to tour the villages and find the farmers who are drawing water from deep borewells or from the river reservoir for irrigation. The farmers are agitated by such action. A delegation of farmers meets the District Collector with their issues and complains that while they are not being allowed to irrigate their crops, big industries located near the river are drawing huge amounts of water through deep borewells for their industrial processes. The farmers allege that their administration is anti-farmer and corrupt, being bribed by the industry. The district needs to placate the farmers as they are threatening to go on a prolonged protest. At the same time, the District Collector has to deal with the water crisis. The industry cannot be closed as this would result in a large number of workers being unemployed.
(a) Discuss all options available to the District Collector as a District Magistrate.
(b) What suitable actions can be taken in view of mutually compatible interests of the stakeholders?
(c) What are the potential administrative and ethical dilemmas for the District Collector?

Dr. Srinivasan is a senior scientist working for a reputed biotechnology company known for its cutting-edge research in pharmaceuticals. Dr. Srinivasan is heading a research team working on a new drug aimed at treating a rapidly spreading variant of a new viral infectious disease. The disease has been rapidly spreading across the world and the cases reported in the country are increasing. There is huge pressure on Dr. Srinivasan’s team to expedite the trials for the drug as there is significant market for it, and the company wants to get the first-mover advantage in the market. During a team meeting, some senior team members suggest some shortcut for expediting the clinical trials for the drug and for getting the requisite approvals. These include manipulating data to exclude some negative outcomes and selectively reporting positive results, foregoing the process of informed consent and using compounds already patented by a rival company, rather than developing one’s own component. Dr. Srinivasan is not comfortable taking such shortcuts, at the same time he realises meeting the targets is impossible without using these means.
(a) What would you do in such a situation?
(b) Examine your options and consequences in the light of the ethical questions involved.
(c) How can data ethics and drug ethics save humanity at large in such a scenario?