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Approach – Answer: General Studies Mains Mock Test 1248 (2019)

1. Explain the significance of Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) in India and highlight the issues in their
working. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Briefly explain Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) and their significance for Indian economy.
 Describe the issues in the working of CRAs.
 In conclusion, suggest solutions that can address such issues.
Answer:
A credit rating agency (CRA) is a company that assesses the creditworthiness of an entity. It rates
debtors on the basis of their ability to pay back the loan on time and the probability of defaulting.
Better the rating better would be the ability to pay back and hence, better terms and conditions on
which a loan is raised by the entity. A debtor entity can be a private company, a government PSU, a
government (centre/state/local) itself, various bonds or security instruments floated by such entities,
etc.
In India, CRAs are regulated by SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999 of the SEBI Act, 1992. As
of now, there are six CRAs registered under SEBI namely, CRISIL, ICRA, CARE, SMERA, Fitch India and
Brickwork Ratings.
Significance of CRAs:
 CRAs help build trust between investors and entities that raise money by quantifying the level of risk
associated with investing.
 Building trust is essential to increase the pool of participants in the market. This would help develop
a vibrant corporate bond market and reduce dependence on banks to lend.
 Credit ratings are a measure of how capable and sound an entity is financially. This becomes an
important gauge for overall economy through the ratings of government bonds.
Inherently, it is in the interest of any entity to get rated favourably. The manner in which CRAs operate
determines how credible the ratings are. The IL&FS liquidity crisis last year has highlighted challenges
associated with CRAs in India:
 Alleged collusion between officials of CRAs and issuer companies: For example, in the IL&FS
episode, forensic audit of involved CRAs has revealed nexus between interested parties. Despite
being aware of the issues, ratings of IL&FS group wasn’t lowered.
 Issuer-pays model: CRAs are paid by the company it rates. This creates potential conflict of interest,
and incentivises CRAs to overlook issues around a debtor's ability to repay.
 CRAs have Non-disclosure agreements with debtors, hence, investors have no way of verifying the
ratings.
 Rating shopping: It is the practice of an issuer choosing the rating agency that will either assign the
highest rating or that has the most lax criteria for achieving a desired rating.
 Lack of penalties: Due to lack of a consolidated legislation, punitive action against those involved in
giving wrong ratings is minimum.
 Lack of dedicated regulator also help CRAs escape oversights.

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 Measures to address these issues
 Instead of ‘Issues-pays model’, the government should look into ‘Investor-pays’ or ‘regulator or
government pays’ models. It will also help avoid potential conflict of interest.
 Rating of debt instruments should be set against a benchmark created in consultation with SEBI.
 CRAs should devise uniform methodologies and prediction models to improve accuracy. Better
market intelligence and surveillance are required rather than depending upon historical data.
SEBI has issued ‘Guidelines for Enhanced Disclosures by Credit Rating Agencies’ whereby rating
agencies have to clearly state the ‘probability of default’ of the instruments they rate for the benefit of
investors, disclose issuer’s liquidity position, rating history etc.

2. What are the issues that have limited the success of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India? Mention
some steps that can be taken to address them. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Briefly, write about the Special Economic Zones in India.
 Highlight the issues that have limited the success of Special Economic Zones in India.
 List the steps to address the highlighted issues.
Answer:
In India, special economic zones are planned as growth engines that can boost manufacturing, augment
exports and generate employment. It provides for special fiscal and regulatory measures to ensure
hassle-free operations alongside state-of-the-art infrastructure and support services. The units are set
up under Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 as duty free regions to be treated as foreign territory for the
purpose of trade operations and duties and tariffs.
However, SEZs in India have seen limited success. For instance, presently 351 SEZs are notified out of
which only 232 SEZs are operational. The reasons for such a scenario include:
 In many SEZ’s, land procured for industrial units remained unutilized. Further, lack of flexibility to
utilize land for different sectors hinders the developmental process.
 Existence of multiple models of economic zones such as SEZ, coastal economic zone, National
Investment and Manufacturing Zone etc. has created confusion and ambiguity about fiscal and
regulatory regime.
 Disadvantage on domestic sales due to application of full custom duty, as compared to the lower
rates with other countries due to free-trade agreement (FTA).
 Imposition of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) (2012) as well as income tax on new SEZs (2017) and
new units (2020) has made it less attractive for industrial establishment.
 Lack of support from the state government when it comes to developing effective single-window
system for speedy clearances.
 Failure to select SEZ sites that offer maximum development potential. Sites are selected on the basis
of real estate speculation rather than the economic potential of a region.
Steps to address them
 Ensure optimal utilization of vacant land in SEZ. Also, allow flexibility of land use and remove sector-
specific constraints.
 Align the policy framework to avoid competition among similar schemes and provide ease of doing
business to developers and tenants.
 Simpler entry and exit processes using time-bound online approval and dispute resolution through
robust arbitration and commercial courts.
 Development of last mile and first mile connectivity infrastructure by government should be
provided for land parcels which are far from highways and urban agglomerations.

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  Fast tracking various approvals through online application process.
 Grant infrastructure status to buildings of SEZs and industrial parks in order to ease funding.
Going forward, lessons can also be taken from China where SEZs have produced better results. Recent
recommendations of Baba Kalyani Committee, which envisages reincarnation of SEZs as Employment
and Economic Enclaves (3Es) also needs to be discussed further.

3. The opportunities for start-ups in India are immense, but so are the challenges. Discuss. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Briefly discuss the current status of Indian startup ecosystem.
 Discuss the opportunities available for startups in India.
 Discuss the business challenges before the startups in India and suggest way forward.
Answer:
In the past few years, the Indian startup ecosystem has witnessed an immense growth. According to
NASSCOM, the startups in India saw a 108 percent growth in total funding from USD 2 billion in 2017 to
USD 4.2 billion in 2018. More than 1,200 startups came up in 2018, including eight unicorns, taking the
total number to 7,200 startups.
Opportunities for startups in India:
 The population of India makes India a big consumer market, which has the capacity to sustain the
growth of startups in the country.
 India has the largest youth population, which is the largest driver for innovation, workforce, talent
and future leaders.
 India has its own challenges of education, health, infrastructure and inequality. This presents a big
opportunity for start-ups to solve a variety of problems.
 The fast growing number of internet users and falling internet prices has played a catalytic role in
expanding the startup ecosystem, with almost 500 million Indians now using internet services across
the country.
 India also boasts of being home to the 3rd largest unicorn community, with over 16 high valued
startups. These unicorns have made a huge difference by changing the outlook of global investors,
VC & PE Firms, and global corporates towards the massive opportunity presented by the growing
Indian consumer market.
Startup business challenges
 Market structure: Indian markets are largely unorganized and fragmented that create a roadblock
for a startup to succeed.
 Financial Issues: Flawed business models and lack of innovative revenue strategies have led to the
failure of many startups and they are forced to shut down operations. In the initial phase of
operations, startups do not get funding from banks, given no credit history of the firm.
 Regulatory Issues: Budding entrepreneurs have to make multiple trips to government offices to
register and seek clearances.
 Taxation : The taxation structure has not been conducive for growth of startups especially the ones
in early years of their inception, which are in desperate need for capital to fund their growth and
other business requirements.
 Socio-culture challenge: The Indian culture has conditioned people to look down upon failure. But
entrepreneurship is often associated with failing and learning from those failures and starting all
over again.
 Cyber security: Tech-startups that collect user information to drive business insights are particularly
vulnerable to cyber threats.

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 Recognizing the opportunities, the government has taken many proactive measures like Startup India,
Standup India, Startup exchange etc. to promote entrepreneurship and develop the eco-system in India.
Today, Indian economy is undergoing an immense makeover with new strategies rolling into the market
emphasizing and enhancing the role and contribution of startups. Besides streamlining various business
processes and regulations, there is an urgent need to create a single online clearance system for new
entrepreneurs, which would allow them to apply for and track the status of their applications/license
permits online.

4. The term 'Circular Economy' is often seen in news. What are the principles that it is based on? Bring
out its relevance for India. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Briefly explain the concept of circular economy.
 Explain the principles on the which it is based.
 Highlights its significance in Indian context.
 Give a brief conclusion highlighting some initiatives in this regard.
Answer:
The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing,
reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this
way, the life cycle of products is extended. This is a departure from the traditional, linear economic
model, which is based on a take-make-consume-throw away pattern.
Circular economy is based upon some simple principles:
 Designing out waste: Products are designed and optimized for a cycle of disassembly and reuse.
Thus, disposal, where large amounts of energy and labour is lost, is not required.
 Reducing negative externalities: The negative externalities of economic activity include land
degradation, water pollution, GHG emissions etc. A circular economy would outline their risks and
potential economic impact and focus on system efficiency.
 Using renewable energy: Renewable energy is required to fuel this cycle in order to decrease
resource dependence and increase systems resilience (to phenomena such as oil shocks).
 Differentiating between consumable and durable components: Circular economy entails minimising
the amount of waste creation in the economy through prolonging the use of durable products and
shifting to more and more biodegradable ingredients while making day to day consumable products.
 Replacing consumer with user: Instead of contemporary buy-and-consume economy, durable
products are leased, rented or shared. If they are sold, there are incentives or agreements in place to
ensure the return and thereafter the reuse of the product.
Relevance of Circular economy for India
 Economic growth: Research suggest that circular economy path to development could bring India
annual benefits of US$ 624 billion in 2050 compared with the current development path – a benefit
equivalent to 30% of India’s current GDP.
 Efficient resource utilisation: Circular economy decouples economic growth from natural resource
use. This augurs well for India, which is facing various resource constraints in basic utilities as well.
For example, 20% of its population lacks access to electricity, 63 million people lack access to clean
drinking water etc. Less material use would also reduce exposure to volatile raw materials prices
 Sustaining increasing population: With India on the path to overtake China as the most populous
country in a decade, its waste generation intensity would also increase. Thus, circular economy
would help manage increasing waste when solid waste disposal is already an acute crisis in India’s
big cities.

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  New opportunities for businesses: By applying circular economy principles, businesses could
generate new ideas and explore new ways of working.
 Environmental Benefits: The circular economy has the potential to reduce greenhouse gases
emissions. As per a study, a circular economy development path could halve carbon dioxide
emissions by 2030, relative to today’s levels.
Policies and initiatives like Zero Effect and Zero Defect, Waste to Energy, etc. can be the ideal for
integrating circular economy into the fabric of the Indian economy.

5. Assess the performance of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana in achieving its stated objective of
financial inclusion. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Briefly enlist the objectives of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
 Access the performance of PMJDY in achieving its objectives.
 In conclusion, talk in brief about recent initiatives taken by the government and provide a suitable
way forward.
Answer:
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched in August 2014, is the national mission on financial
inclusion. The objective of PMJDY is to ensure access to various financial services, such as availability of
basic savings bank account, access to need-based credit, remittance facility, insurance, and pension to
the otherwise excluded sections, i.e., weaker sections and low-income groups.
Performance of PMJDY in achieving financial inclusion
 Increased use of financial services: There has been a rise in average account balance in PMJDY
accounts (doubling between 2015 and 2017), declining of zero-balance accounts by more than half
between 2015 and 2016, and sharp growth in cross-bank transactions facilitated by business
correspondents.
 Financialisation of savings: by giving lower income households access to a safe investment product.
 Diversification of financial products: with more than 13 crore beneficiaries enrolling for the low-cost
accident insurance cover and close to 5.5 crore for the life cover.
 Further, not only has the scheme managed to bring much needed financial discipline among the
financially excluded, the middlemen have been cut to a large extent by enabling direct credit to the
accounts of the various direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes.
However, financial inclusion is not just about opening bank accounts, but also about using these
accounts and providing access to formal credit. A major limitation of the PMJDY has been the slow
increase in the use of these accounts and a weak mechanism to impart financial literacy among the poor
masses.
The dormancy in PMJDY accounts currently can be attributed to factors such as lack of information on
operational procedures, product features and account duplication. Logistical and technical challenges
still deprive many of the advantage of RuPay card to its beneficiaries. The credit-deposit ratio has more
or less stagnated in rural areas and has deteriorated slightly from 58.2% in 2014 to 57.7% in 2016 for
semi-urban populations.
To address the above identified challenges and consolidate the gains made so far, the government
decided to make the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) an open-ended scheme (meaning that it
will continue indefinitely). It also added additional incentives like enhancing the limit of existing
overdraft facility, raising the accidental insurance cover for new RuPay card holders etc.
The need of the hour is to shift the focus from “every household to every adult” and enhance the level of
financial literacy among the masses.

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6. How does pollution in rivers impact the surrounding ecosystem? Explain why such pollution has not
shown signs of improvement, despite various government initiatives. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 In introduction, give estimated data on the extent of river pollution in India.
 Explain how pollution in rivers impacts the surrounding ecosystem.
 Mentioning the measures taken by the government, explain why such initiatives haven’t been
completely successful.
 Conclude accordingly.
Answer:
River pollution is one of the gravest environmental challenges in India. Not only does huge amount of
waste water enters the major rivers and water bodies daily but also industrial effluent as well as raw
sewage. More than half of the Indian rivers are categorized as polluted.
Impact of river pollution:
 Water scarcity: According to Niti Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index 2018, more than 600
million people in India face high to extreme water crisis. For instance, Chennai city is facing one of its
worst water crises.
 Water quality: Pollutants such as coliform in river water makes it unfit for domestic consumption.
With nearly 70% of river water being contaminated, India is placed 120th amongst 122 countries in
the UNEP Global Drinking Water Quality Index.
 Agriculture: Unavailability coupled with contamination is bound to impact agriculture, threatening
food security and livelihoods.
 Marine life: Pollution leading to eutrophication, imbalanced pH levels etc., have affected marine life,
leading to loss in diversity in rivers.
 Salt-water intrusion: Due to declining level of water, sea water enters the river from its mouth,
turning the groundwater saline at many places.
Initiatives such as National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, and ‘Namami
Gange have failed to yield desired results due to:
 Rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and inefficient waste disposal systems: Installed sewage
treatment capacity in India cities is very low.
 International cooperation for trans-boundary rivers: China’s dam building activities in Siang river
(Tibet), have impacted efforts to clean up Brahmaputra river.
 Inter-state river conflicts: With more focus on dispute between states over Cauvery river, not much
attention has been paid to the river condition.
 Financial irregularities in the execution of river development projects.
 Asymmetric priority: Due to cultural significance of Ganga, Uttar Pradesh has received dedicated
Central funding of ₹3,696 crore since 2015 compared to ₹351 crore given to 14 States to conserve
other 32 rivers.
Installing sewage treatment plants should be complemented by boosting capacity of existing ones.
Alternative solutions include using new technology such as bio-filters and bio-remediation, temporarily
shutting down upstream polluting industries etc.

7. What is project MANAV launched by the Department of Biotechnology? Highlight the significance of
this project. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Briefly discuss about the MANAV project.
 Mention its main features and objective.
 Highlight the significance of this project.

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Answer:
There are millions of research articles with pivotal information on human health and disease, spanning
from single molecule resolution to the level of the whole organism. However, this information is
scattered in different databases, repositories and in the text of journal articles.
MANAV initiative aims to create a comprehensive and integrated human map by assimilating all the
known macro-level and micro-level information from scientific literature and public databases. It will
cover the molecular details of every cell, tissue and organ in the human body. The project can be signed
up by students who are in their final year graduation and above.
Significance of the MANAV project:
 The aim of the project is to understand and capture the human physiology in two stages – in a
normal stage and while in a disease stage. Such a database on individual tissues, once ready, can
come handy in tracing the causes of a disease, understanding specific pathways and ultimately
decode the body’s disease stage linked to tissues and cells.
 This map will provide knowledge in holistic fashion from inter-organ dependencies to intra-organ,
tissue level, cell and sub-cellular level biological reactions.
 It will accelerate our understanding of the working of the human body and help design better
therapeutic targets for treating diseases like cancer, diabetes and more.
 It will help in gaining better biological insights through physiological and molecular mapping,
develop disease models through predictive computing and have a holistic analysis and finally drug
discovery and personalized healthcare.
 This platform will impart key skills to the researchers and student community to read classified
scientific literature on individual tissue-basis, and perform annotation and curation.
 It will also help identify gaps in the current biological knowledge, which could be the basis for future
studies and policies.

8. Highlighting the properties and applications of superconductors, discuss the constraints related to
their practical use. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Explain the concept of superconductivity.
 Mention the key properties of superconductors.
 List their important applications.
 Also bring out the constraints related to their practical use.
Answer:
Superconductivity is a phenomenon, where a material, below a certain “critical temperature” stops
resisting an electric current and allows it to pass through it freely without any apparent energy loss. This
transition is sudden and sharp. For example, mercury exhibits superconductivity below -269°C.
Key properties of superconductors:
 An electric current flowing in superconductor circuit will flow for as long as it remains at low enough
temperature to maintain its superconductive state.
 When cooled below the critical temperature, it expels weak external magnetic fields and does not
allow them to penetrate it. This is called Meissner effect.
 Extremely high current carrying density and high sensitivity to magnetic field.
Applications of Superconductors:
 Superconducting magnets are some of the most powerful electromagnets known.
 They are used in MRI/NMR machines, particle accelerators (for example CERN) and plasma confining
magnets in some tokomaks for nuclear fusion.
 They are used in designing efficient electric motors and generators.

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  Using superconductors, power transmission across long distances including cross border
transmission may occur without any apparent energy loss.
 SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) is a very sensitive magnetometer used to
measure extremely small magnetic fields.
 Future applications may include high-performance smart grid, power storage devices, magnetic
levitation devices, ship propulsion system etc.
Challenges in its practical use:
 Superconductor usage is costly in terms of cost of material and maintenance of low temperatures
which are difficult, expensive and energy intensive to maintain.
 Superconductor materials are usually brittle, not ductile and hard to shape.
 They are also chemically unstable in some environments.
 Superconductivity is sensitive to moving magnetic fields so applications that use alternating current
(e.g. transformers) will be more difficult to develop.
 There is a limit to the current passing through the material before it loses its superconductivity.
Because of these challenges, high-temperature superconductivity is one of the most important areas of
research in physics. For example, a team of scientists at IISc claimed to have attained superconductivity
at 13°C, from pellets made of silver nanoparticles embedded in a gold matrix. If confirmed this will be a
landmark development in the field of superconductivity.

9. Discuss the reasons behind India becoming a major destination as well as a transit hub for drug
trafficking in South Asia. How does this effect India's internal security? (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Mention the reasons why India is a major destination and transit hub for drug trafficking in South
Asia.
 Discuss how it affects India’s security.
 Suggest a way forward in brief in conclusion.
Answer:
From cannabis to newer synthetic opioids like tramadol, and designer drugs like
methamphetamine, India is one of the major hubs for illicit drug trade, according to the 2018
annual report by International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) of the United Nation s Office of Drugs
and Crime (UNODC)
A combination of factors has made India a major destination as well as transit hub for drug
trafficking in South Asia. These include:
 Proximity to the largest opium producing regions in the world i.e. ‘Golden Crescent’
(Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran) in the West and ‘Golden Triangle’ (Myanmar-Thailand-Laos) in the
East.
 India is also increasingly used as an alternative to the ‘southern route’ which runs through
Pakistan or the Islamic Republic of Iran, via the Gulf countries, continues to East Africa and on
to destination countries.
 India has a pre-existing network of bullion smugglers along the border regions, which aids in
drug trafficking as well.
 Existence of traditional smuggling routes, porous borders, well-developed transportation
networks and lax border vigilance etc. facilitate the trafficking of drugs in and out of India.
 Global trend of purchasing drugs over the Internet, particularly on ‘darknet’ trading platforms using
cryptocurrencies, which are difficult to track, has already spread across South Asia, including India.
 India is also used as a supply route for drugs such as Cocaine form South America as there is a high
level of interest in the drug within the country, with the number of drug users expanding.

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 Drug trafficking and India’s internal security
Persistence of drug trafficking over the years implies that the sanctity of the borders is being breached
and their security compromised. Its effects on India’s internal security include:
 The breach of the international borders of the country by drug traffickers implies that the same
routes could be used for smuggling in weapons as well as terrorists into the country. For e.g. during
the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, bombs were transported through the traditional trafficking
routes.
 Money generated by the illegal sale of narcotics and drugs is used for financing terrorist activities in
Kashmir, North-East etc.
 Large-scale availability of narcotics and drugs encourages their domestic demand, which can create
law and order problem in the society. It also causes a huge economic drain on the country through
loss of production and diversion of resources for caring and rehabilitation of the drug addicts, among
others.
 Drug trafficking has a bearing on the political process impacting security at higher levels as drug
cartels subvert, penetrate and corrupt state institutions to control the illegal drug trade.
India has tried to tackle the problem through the strategy of drug supply and demand reduction, which
involves enacting laws, co-operating with voluntary organisations, securing its borders and coasts by
increasing surveillance, as well as seeking the active cooperation of its neighbours and the international
community. The creation of National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse to meet the expenditure incurred
in connection with combating illicit traffic in Narcotic Drug is also an important step in this direction.

10. The development of border areas is an important element in border management. In this context,
discuss how the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) seeks to ameliorate the problems faced
in border areas. (150 words) 10
Approach:
 Explaining the concept of border management, discuss the role of development of border areas in
border management.
 Mention the objectives of BADP in resolving issues related to border areas.
 Conclude briefly.
Answer:
India’s border areas are plagued by poor accessibility, inadequate infrastructure, depressed economic
growth, rampant poverty and a sense of insecurity among the people. The development of border areas
has therefore been envisaged as an important element in border management.
Towards this end, the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) was initiated as early as 1987
along the India-Pakistan border to ‘meet the special development needs of the people living in remote
and inaccessible areas situated near the international border’. The programme was later extended to
cover all of India’s international border areas including the Northeast in 1993-94 under the Eighth Five
Year Plan. The BADP has three primary objectives:
(a) to create infrastructure
(b) to provide economic opportunities to the border people; and
(c) to instil a sense of security among them.
In 2015, the Department of Border Management issued revised guidelines for Modified Border Area
Development Programme (BDAP) with following key features:
 BADP is now extended to all villages within 0-10 KM of the international borders.
 Villages identified by Border Guarding Forces will get priority.

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  Schemes like Swachhta Abhiyan, Skill Development Programmes, Rural / border tourism, scientific
farming are included in BDAP.
 Some border villages will be developed as model villages.
 Also provisions for third party inspection and quality control mechanism have been made.
From 2016-17 it has been classified as a Core Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) and is now part of the
National Development Agenda.
 Currently, the scheme is implemented by Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home
Affairs in all 17 border states with an aim to saturate the border areas with the essential
infrastructure through convergence of Central/State/BADP/Local schemes and a participatory
approach.
 Its implementation includes development of community based infrastructure like forestry, pasture
land, fishery ponds, floriculture parks, community centres, mobile dispensaries, mini marketing
yards etc. in border areas.
According to the evaluation study by the NITI Aayog, BADP was relatively successful in western states in
ameliorating the problems faced in border areas. However, it had limited impact in the north-eastern
states where inadequate and asymmetric infrastructure development was observed mainly due to
corruption, political interference, meagre funds, faulty schemes, and absence of local participation in
decision making process. Hence, to make the scheme more effective the above issues need to be
addressed on priority.

11. Examine whether Fixed Term Employment will be able to achieve the objectives of ease of doing
business, achieving labour welfare and job creation. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Briefly introduce with the concept of Fixed Term Employment (FTE).
 Mention how FTEs can help in achieving objectives of ease of doing business, achieving labour
welfare and job creation.
 Highlight the challenges associated with the implementation of FTE, which can be hurdle in
achieving these objectives.
Answer:
Labour market has three different participants, which have seemingly conflicting interests. It consists of
employers, employed persons and those seeking employment. Employers seek ease of doing business
and low costs, the employed seek to maximise labour welfare, whereas those who seek employment
would want that there be more number of jobs in the economy. The government, as the policy maker,
desires to achieve the interests of all three. FTE is a means through which it aims to ease the ability to do
business, maximise job creation while protecting basic rights of labour. Fixed Term Employment (FTE) is
a contract in which a company or an enterprise hires an employee for a specific period of time. In FTE,
the employee is not on the payroll of the company.
Recently, the government under The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central (Amendment)
Rules, 2018 has extended the facility of hiring workers on FTE to all sectors. The move is aimed at
improving the ease of doing business, achieving labour welfare and job creation.
FTEs can improve ease of doing business in the following ways:
 It provides clarity to the companies about the nature of employees it seeks. This will help them plan
better regarding investing in capital and/or labour.
 Rigid labour laws have been often cited by industries as the biggest hurdle in setting up a
manufacturing base in India. FTE rules are easy to comply with as they impose less cost of
compliance.

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  FTE rules ease the process of hiring and retrenchment of workers according to needs of the company
while providing a basic security to the workers. Companies retain the right to fire workers for fraud
and non-performance.
 It will depend on companies to renew the contract or not.

FTEs can improve labour welfare in following ways:

 According to Labour Bureau’s Annual Survey 2015-16, in India around 33 percent are casual workers.
More than 95 percent of casual workers do not even have a written job contract. FTEs will help in
formalization of labour force.
 Fixed term workers would be entitled to same benefits as permanent one, which includes work
hours, wages and other statutory benefits.
 The rules also made it difficult to fire temporary employees. If the worker has completed three
months of continuous service, he/she should be given a two-week notice before terminating his or
her service.
 It will help labour getting permanent jobs as companies may hire them on payroll based on their
performance.
 Role of middlemen will be minimized thus extending maximum benefits to workers.

FTEs can help in job creation:

 By providing clarity on labour policy, FTE rules will help optimise the decisions on proportional
deployment of capital and labour, as opposed to current trend of going for capital intensive
manufacturing because of rigid labour laws.
 FTEs will be helpful for those sectors, which are seasonal in nature. Their growth will spur other
sectors like infrastructure, logistics etc. and in turn will increase employment.
 As FTEs will be a short-term contract, it can encourage workers as well as enterprises to get into
contract.
 MSMEs and SMEs will be encouraged, as they are major job creator in the economy.

However, there are various challenges with regards to FTE’s implementation:

 Industries are reluctant to go ahead citing rising costs and obligations, as workers need to be treated
at par with permanent ones. New rules will increase administrative cost and statutory workload for
the companies.
 Labour is under concurrent list, so effort is required to bring all the states on the same footing in this
regards.
 The rules are also silent about the Appellate Authority, which can be approached for clarification,
escalation and grievance handling.
 Since hiring and firing is easy, it may lead to exploitation of workers and thus not encouraging them
to go under such contracts. The government also needs to clearly specify the provisions related to
Pension and other Retirement Benefits.

With universal adoption of the rules across all the states, it is expected to be a game changer as far as
labour welfare and formalization of labour is concerned. By streamlining the hiring process, it will also
improve ease of doing business in India.

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12. A growing livestock sector augurs well for the low income households to augment their income and
escape poverty. Discuss. Further, suggest some strategies for ensuring sustainable livestock sector
growth in India. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Introduce by highlighting the present status of livestock sector in India.
 Discuss in brief how a growing livestock sector can help to increase income of low income
households and alleviate poverty.
 Enumerate some of the strategies for ensuring sustainable livestock sector growth in India.
 Conclude on the basis of the above points.
Answer:
Livestock plays an important role in the Indian economy. About 20.5 million people depend upon
livestock for their livelihood. Livestock sector contributes around 4.11% Gross domestic product (GDP)
and 25.6% of total Agriculture GDP. In fact, livestock is the fastest growing sector. Its contribution to the
total output of the agriculture sector increased from 15 per cent in 1981-82 to 26 per cent in 2010-11.
About 73 percent of the total household in the rural area own some form of livestock of which around
three quarters are small and marginal farmers.
The growing livestock sector can augment the income of the low income households and alleviate
poverty in following ways:
 Additional source of income: Farmers and landless labourers can earn extra income from animal
husbandry. In the arid and semi-arid regions, livestock sector is the main source of family income.
These animals serves as moving banks and assets, which provide economic security to the owners.
 Employment: It provides employment even during lean agricultural season to those who are
dependent upon agriculture for their livelihoods.
 Nutritional security: The livestock not only contributes towards improving nutritional security and
also reduces rural poverty by preventing additional expenditure for food by households.
 Equitable distribution: The rural poor have limited opportunities in crop production. In comparison,
livestock wealth is more equitably distributed, and the expanding demand for animal food products
generates significant opportunities for the poor to escape poverty through diversifying and
intensifying livestock production.
 Social security: The animals offer social security to the owners in terms of their status in the society,
which also acts as a guard against getting driven into poverty.
 Resilience to climate change: As livestock is less prone to global warming and climate change, it can
be considered more reliable than rain-fed agriculture. Livestock production and marketing can help
stabilize the food supplies and provide individuals and communities with a buffer against economic
shocks and natural disasters.
Further, the returns of livestock sector are quick. Losses, if any, are recovered soon and even the low
income households can also afford it. However, its potential has not yet been fully realized. India’s
livestock productivity is 20-60 per cent lower than the global average because of number of constraints
like lack of access to modern livestock services, poor marketing support, lack of credit support, etc.
Following steps can be taken for ensuring sustainable livestock sector growth in India:
 Overcoming feed and fodder scarcity and improvements in delivery of animal health and breeding
services.
 Technology will be a key driver of growth and concerted efforts will be needed to generate and
disseminate yield-enhancing and yield-saving technologies.
 Public spending needs to be increased to re-energize the livestock sector.
 Strengthening linkages between production and markets through institutions such as cooperatives,
producers’ associations and contract farming.

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  Institutional support in terms of credit and insurance is meager and needs to be strengthened.
 Government needs to take efforts to promote the sector by measures like establishing the Indian
Council of Veterinary and Animal Science Education and Research, Schemes like Operation Flood,
Kamdhenu scheme, etc.
 Further, the governments and industry should prepare producers for a quality-driven competition in
the domestic as well as global market.
The extent to which growth in livestock production can be accelerated would depend on how
technology, institutions and policies address constraints facing the livestock sector.

13. Examine whether the time has come for India to usher in full liberalisation of the Capital Account.
(250 words) 15
Approach:
 Explain Capital Account liberalisation and reasons behind controlling Capital Account.
 Explain in brief the essential pre-conditions of capital account liberalisation and India’s performance
on it.
 Conclude by providing the benefits of capital account liberalisation and whether India should go for
it.
Answer:
[Important Note: Students should note that rather than a Yes or No answer, what is more important is
analysing whether Indian economy is volatile and vulnerable and does it have the capability to deal with
internal and external shocks.]
Capital account liberalisation (CAL) is the process of easing restrictions on capital flows (both inflows
and outflows) across a country’s borders. It may be completely unrestricted or may be partially
regulated.
A country tries to control the Capital Account to shield itself from the risks associated with fluctuations
in international capital flows and save its domestic savings from flying abroad. At present, India follows a
controlled Capital Account Regime.
For capital account liberalisation macro-economic stability is required. The Tarapore committee on fuller
capital account convertibility also set preconditions, which included reduction in gross fiscal deficit to
GDP ratio, a steady and contained inflation rate and a decline in the level of non-performing assets of
the banking sector, in this regard.
Followings are the essential pre-conditions for liberalisation of Capital Account and India’s status related
to it:
Essential Pre-Conditions India’s Performance

Fiscal Consolidation
Inflation Control
Low Level of NPAs
The medium term fiscal strategy of India is to reduce Fiscal Deficit to
3% of GDP by 2020-21 and eliminate Primary deficit. This will lead
towards fiscal consolidation.
The mandate of the Monetary Policy Committee is to maintain
annual inflation at the rate of 4% until 2021 with an upper tolerance
of 6% and a lower tolerance of 2%.
The gross NPAs in the Indian economy stands at Rs. 10.35 lakh crore
in 2018. Indian government has brought Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code to deal with the situation and RBI is regulating the internal
restructuring of stressed assets. Still, the Twin Balance Sheet
problem persists.

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 Low and Sustainable Current The CAD of India widened to around 2.6% of GDP during 2018. Its
Account Deficit volatility determines whether India is a stable destination for foreign
investment or not.
Strong Financial Markets India’s capital market could withstand several periods of stress such
as the Asian financial crisis (1997-98), the Global Financial Crisis
(2007-09) and the “Taper Tantrum” episode (2013).
Prudent Supervision of Financial Institutions in India are supervised and regulated by several
Financial Institutions autonomous institutions such as RBI, SEBI, IRDA.
Performance of the Indian financial ecosystem based on the above parameters shows that after
resolving its NPA and CAD, it can eventually look for capital account liberalisation. This will help India in
integrating with the global economy further, and will provide the much required capital for economic
growth and employment. It will also facilitate the transfer of foreign technological and managerial know-
how to India and will incentivise policymakers to adopt and maintain sound policies, with obvious
benefits in terms of boosting competition and long-term growth. Besides, keeping any restriction for too
long is self-defeating as people end up finding new methods of bypassing that restriction.

14. Highlighting the challenges to agriculture extension in India, discuss how ICT can help in addressing
them. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Briefly explain what you understand by agriculture extension.
 Mention the challenges to agriculture extension in India.
 State how ICT can help in addressing the challenges to agriculture extension. Substantiate with
examples.
 Conclude on the basis of the above points.
Answer:
The Dalwai Committee on Doubling Farmers' Income defines Agriculture Extension as the “empowering
system of sharing information, knowledge, technology, skills, risk & farm management practices, across
agricultural sub-sectors, all along the agricultural value chain, so as to enable the farmers to realise
higher net income from their enterprise on a sustainable basis.”
In India, major extension programmes are implemented under the ‘Sub – Mission on Agricultural
Extension’ of the National Mission on Agricultural Extension & Technology. Other major players
providing extension services are Krishi Vigyan Kendras, State Agricultural Universities, fertiliser
cooperatives such as the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited, private enterprises like the ITC
etc.
Despite involvement of multiple agencies, following are the challenges to agriculture extension in India:
 One size fits all approach: The public sector offers a one-size-fits-all approach to farmers. Thus, the
information provided is supply-driven and not need-based or area-specific.
 Passive role to farmers: Farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, have a passive role to play
and their considerations are often not taken into account.
 Issue with Funds and functionaries: Government staff is often overburdened with the mandate of
implementing other state and centralized schemes, which leads to low level of outreach. Further,
there is insufficient allocation of funds.
 Connectivity issues: Low internet penetration and mobile connectivity hampers decentralization of
agricultural extension.
 Issue with private sector: Private sector extension remains limited due to focus only in certain areas
where profits can be assured.

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  Quality control: A large number of players in the agriculture extension arena function without
adherence to specific standards or certification of quality.
Role of ICT in addressing the challenges include:
 Providing real time information to farmers: ICT has the ability to reach a large number of farmers
directly and in a cost-effective manner by giving access to timely, reliable, and relevant information
pertaining to complexities such as climate change, limited water availability, input use etc.
 Bridging the gap: ICT can facilitate two-way information flows between farmers and extension
agencies. It can also increase market efficiency by addressing information gaps and blockages.
 Public radio and TV programmes: They can be used to reach farmers on a large-scale. For e.g. ‘Kisan
Channel’ on Doordarshan telecasts agriculture-related programmes and disseminates knowledge
about extension services.
 Mobile Phones: They can be utilised to collect and disseminate advisory and market information,
such as prices and location. Eg. ‘Kisan Call Centers’ respond instantly to farmers’ issues in 22 local
languages.
 Web portals: Online platforms can provide opportunities for information sharing and linking with
other stakeholders. For e.g. ‘Farmers’ portal’, where farmers can access information on crop
insurance, storage, market prices etc. Another example is ‘e-Choupal’, which uses the internet to
procure agricultural and aquaculture products directly from farmers.
However, it should be noted that the success of ICT adoption is dependent on the knowledge of farmers
on how to use devices and navigate the internet. Further, web portals, e-learning and text-based SMS
messages are mostly useful only for literate farmers. Thus, it is pertinent to ensure that the farmers are
well trained and equipped prior to provisioning of ICT-enabled agriculture extension services to them.

15. Now that it has been two years since introduction of GST in India, do you think the system is on the
path to achieve its intended objectives? Support your answer with relevant facts. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Give a brief introduction regarding the GST regime in India.
 Evaluate the GST regime in India with respect to its objectives while giving relevant facts for the
same.
 Give a brief conclusion.
Answer:
Publicised as the ‘one nation, one market, one tax’, the GST has been one of the most far-reaching tax
reforms in independent India. It brought with it expectations to realise the following objectives:
 Make India a common market with common tax rates and procedures thus paving the way for an
integrated economy at the national level.
 Improved competitiveness owing to reduction in transaction costs of doing business.
 Improve the extent of formalisation of the economy by increasing compliance with indirect tax
system. This was sought to be done by cutting down the compliance costs by clubbing together
indirect taxes of Center and States.
 Substantially reduce cascading of taxes by providing seamless flow of input tax credit in the entire
supply chain and also lowering the costs of goods and services.
 Reduce the logistics and transportation costs by barrier-free movement of goods across India.
The GST regime in India looks set on the right path to realization of its objectives. Some of the few
achievements of the GST regime are:

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  Increase in number of taxpayers: As per the economic survey, there has been an increase in 50% of
indirect taxpayers, post-GST implementation. Encouraging more businesses and traders to register
has paved the way for formalization of economy.
 Lower tax rates: The four-tier rate structure of 28%, 18%, 12% and 5% is broadly based on the
principle of ‘capacity to pay’ and ‘who use the goods’. All these rates are lower than the aggregate of
pre-GST rates of a particular item.
 Seamless movement of goods: Abolition of Entry Tax and imposition of same rate of State GST
(SGST) across the states made the stoppage of trucks, examination of goods and collection of Entry
Tax or Octroi at the inter-state check posts unnecessary. This reduced delays and malpractices
leading to saving on costs.
 Reduced cost of goods: The GST regime provides for a National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA),
which ensures that the benefit of reduction in the rate of tax or input tax credit is passed on to the
customer.
 One national market: In the GST regime, for one particular commodity, the rate of GST is same
across the country. Therefore, one can now look at India as a 'Common Economic Market' in the
coming future.
 Equitable growth of industry across the country. GST being a destination-based consumption tax
would provide states like U.P., Bihar etc. extra revenue from IGST, besides their own SGST for intra-
state trade. It is expected that this extra revenue would be spent in development of infrastructure
required for industrial growth.
While the aforementioned successes of the regime are worth noting, there have been certain fallouts
that deserve a course correction. Some of these include:
 Technology glitches: GSTN crashed in the first few weeks of implementation itself. Further, the
services of GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs) for helping the Small Business in their interactions with the
GSTN were not available initially.
 Policy issues affecting small businesses: The low threshold exemption for the small business at only
Rs. 20 lakhs of annual turnover as well as no exemption for inter-state supply initially, forced them
to stop inter-state trade, to remain outside GST, losing business in process.
 Cumbersome and lengthy refund process for claiming Input Tax Credits: It has proven to be a major
challenge, especially for the exporters. Their input tax credit is delayed, causing them to slow down
their businesses. For e.g. Textile industry is staring at a loss of Rs 1500 crore due to this delay.
 Exemptions in GST: Petroleum products and electricity continue to remain outside the ambit of GST.
This leads to arbitrary pricing and absence of input tax credits. This is one of the biggest reasons why
rates in GST are difficult to further rationalise.
 Issue with Reverse Charge Mechanism: The registered big businesses were mandated to pay GST
and do all compliance requirements on behalf of the unregistered suppliers. So, the registered
business stopped transactions with small suppliers.
Thus, various reforms still need to be undertaken in GST reform with respect to technical, administrative
and operational challenges to ensure realization of all its objectives.

16. Write a brief note on Carbon Capture and Storage. Mention its potential benefits and discuss the
challenges that need to be addressed for its wide-scale deployment in India. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Explain what Carbon Capture and Storage is and explain its process in brief.
 Highlight its potential benefits.
 Discuss the challenges that India would face in its deployment.
 Give a brief conclusion.

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Answer:
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the process of capturing waste Carbon Dioxide (CO2) from large
point sources such as fossil fuel power plants, transporting it to a storage site, and depositing it where it
will not enter the atmosphere, normally an underground geological formation. The process of CCS is
explained in the image below:

As per Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) institute, India is one among 24 developing countries
that are currently engaged in CCS activities such as capacity development, planning and pre-investment
and project development.
Potential Benefits
 Preventing the rise of global mean temperature: Most of the countries have recognised the need
for deep cuts in global GHG emissions to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2°C
above preindustrial levels.
 Containing climate change impacts: Capturing emissions would help in reducing the occurrence of
more frequent heat waves, droughts, severe storms, sea level rise, and other significant climate
change impacts.
 Meeting energy demands: Reducing emission through CCS would provide some room to meet rising
energy demands through fossil fuels due to increase in population and income levels.
Additionally, captured CO2 has commercial and industrial uses, particularly for Enhanced Oil Recovery
(EOR) in depleting oil fields. It has the ability to change the properties of oil and make it easier to
extract.
Challenges for India in its deployment
 Economic issues: CCS requires external input of energy and an additional burden of extra usage of
power for running a new plant for CCS is not feasible from an economic perspective.
 Environmental concerns: Many environmental concerns are associated with CCS such as:
o Potential groundwater contamination from direct CO₂ leakage.
o Induced seismicity risk due to the large volume of CO₂ injected underground and the resulting
pressure build-up.
o Climate risk associated with slow, chronic or sudden, large releases of CO2 to the surface.

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  Regulatory issues: The absence of any policy framework regarding adoption of CCS in India which
further raises concern regarding safety issues in the public hampering the trust in the technology.
 Health concerns: Assessing and characterising geological CO₂ storage sites is a long process and
needs careful assessment before any CO₂ is stored there. There is a risk to human health from either
operational problems or leakage of CO₂ to the surface, where it can act as an asphyxiant at high
concentrations.
 Technical challenge: While each element of the carbon capture and sequestration technology chain
has been developed and largely proven, significant gaps still need to be addressed in integrated
deployment of the entire system.
For addressing these challenges, a comprehensive policy is needed that would incentivize investment in
its deployment, establish performance standards for CCS plants and address various legal issues such as
related to land acquisition.
Further, increased government support is required for reducing capture costs, achieving a better
understanding of the behavior of injected CO₂ in deep saline reservoirs, advancing monitoring and
verification technologies, and integrating the various components of CCS plant. Lastly, it is imperative to
ensure that these projects meet the highest standards of safety so as to gain public confidence. Only
then the CCS strategy will be able to play a key role in reducing emissions and achieving global climate
targets in the near future.

17. Highlight the gender specific challenges faced during disaster management. In this regard, discuss how
the disaster management cycle can be made more gender sensitive. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Bring out the need for gender sensitivity in disaster management cycle.
 Discuss the gender-specific challenges faced during disaster management.
 Discuss how the disaster management cycle can be made more gender sensitive.
 Conclude appropriately.
Answer:
Disasters and their aftermaths mirror the pre-existing social inequalities of caste, class, ethnicity,
sexualities, disability and age, with gender cutting across in all of them.
Gender specific challenges faced during disaster management include:
Women’s vulnerabilities are socially and not biologically constructed, and are embedded in social,
economic and political processes.
 Cultural constraints on female mobility hinder self-rescue. For example, females especially
pregnant, lactating, and menstruating women may be reluctant to seek shelter because of lack of
private spaces in shared communal facilities.
 Lack of skills due to traditional stereotypes : For instance, many skills like swimming and tree
climbing are traditionally taught to males while females are deliberately denied those skill on the
pretext of biological differences. It is coupled with lesser access to resources like transportation,
skill, information, control over land etc., which makes them more vulnerable to disasters.
 Nutritional/Health reasons: Pregnant, lactating and adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to
malnutrition during disasters owing to body’s enhanced need for nutrition. It is also accentuated due
to gender bias, which leads to less access to food to women and girls in distressed households. Also,
women are vulnerable to reproductive and sexual health issues, and increased rates of sexual and
domestic violence in the wake of disasters.
 Loss of livelihood and family members further affects their marginalisation. Distribution of relief
material also ignores the specific needs of women.

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 Men face different forms of vulnerability in the face of disasters. For instance, their socially acceptable
masculine role as saviour during a disaster, expectation to bear the entire financial burden, lack of
knowhow of household chores/child rearing makes them vulnerable during and post disaster.
Some steps that can make disaster management cycle more gender sensitive are under:
 Disaster preparedness using sex disaggregated data for policymaking, gender budgeting, capacity
assessments and devising post disaster recovery efforts.
 Understanding gender roles: The role women play in contributing to a household’s food security or
income needs to be understood, and livelihood recovery and rehabilitation activities like vocational
trainings should be designed, accordingly.
 Engaging women in community-based disaster mitigation: Women should be engaged in all stages
of disaster planning and management.
 Providing counselling services: for creating awareness regarding disaster management and also for
handling post disaster stress and trauma.
 Appropriateness of relief items: Gender specific needs should be taken into consideration when
designing relief packages, such as medicines, sanitary items, contraceptives etc.
 Addressing health issues: Disaster relief efforts need to pay attention to specific female health
needs like women toilets, pregnancy etc.
Also, gender auditing of disaster management plans at national and state levels can bring a gender focus
into disaster mitigation and response. Realizing the need for gender sensitivity, the National Institute of
Disaster Management (NIDM) has also developed a Training Module on Gender and Disaster
Management.

18. Though there are some notable individual achievements, the overall participation of women in
scientific research has been abysmally low. Examine. What steps have been taken by the government
in this regard? (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Introduce the answer with notable female scientists of India.
 Bringing out briefly the current scenario of women participation of women in scientific research,
discuss the issues that result in lack of participation of women in this regards.
 Highlight the government efforts in this regards.
 Conclude appropriately.
Answer:
Several woman scientists, mathematicians, astronauts, and experts such as late Shakuntala Devi,
Kalpana Chawla,Mangala Narlikar, Aditi Pant are a few illustrious names in the field of science and
technology in India. More recently, Ritu Karidhal and Nandini Harinath of Mars Orbiter Mission have
been in news. Similarly, Chandrima Shaha is set to be the first woman president of the Indian National
Science Academy (INSA) beginning January 2020.
However, the gender disparity in scientific research in India remains worrisome.
 As per the National Task Force on women in science report, only 15% of the Indian research and
development workforce are women, while the global average is 30%.
 Only about 12.6% of women opt for studying science and 16.34% opt for engineering & technology
at undergraduate level.
 The percentage of women faculty at high profile institutes like TIFR, IITs, IISc is only 10-12%
 Women comprise less than 10% of the fellowships of India’s science academies and outreach
programmes.

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 Several reasons for the low participation and contributions of women in scientific research:
 Patriarchal attitude: Only a small percentage of women pursue science and convert it into a career
owing to several social, cultural factors because:
o There is less focus on girl’s child education in Indian society and especially enrolment in STEM
courses are very low.
o Women are encouraged to pursue pink collared jobs so that they can fulfil dual responsibility of
job and household work.
o Women have donned the role of caregivers and hence highly qualified women, such as those
with doctorates, drop out of competitive professional race due to various external factors like
maternity leave and childcare.
 Lack of Institutional support
o Majority of women’s colleges offer arts and commerce rather than science.
o There is a systemic gender discrimination and biased career review processes. Women are
marginalized even at faculty positions and in field of science and technology.
o There is a lack of support for gender diversity in work environment. For the same position and
recognition, women have to work harder.
In this regard, various ministries such as Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of
Science and Technology (DBT and DST) has taken various steps such as:
 Vigyan Jyoti scheme (DST): It aims to attract rural girls towards science with IIT and IISER as nodal
agency in initial phase the scheme.
 Indo-US fellowship for women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine
to participate in international collaborative research in premier institutions in America.
 Women Scientist Scheme (DST) aims to provide opportunities to women scientist and
technologists who desire to return to mainstream science after a break in career.
 KIRAN (DST): It aims to develop state-of-the-art infrastructure in women universities in order to
attract, train and retain promising girls students in S&T domain.
 UDAAN (MHRD): It aims to address the lower enrolment ratio of girl students in science and
engineering colleges.
 BioCARe (DBT): It mainly focuses on career development of employed/ unemployed women
scientists upto 55 years of age.
In order to truly achieve the targets as envisaged under the aegis of gender equality of SDG#5, more
opportunities should be created for women to eliminate gender biases in STEM courses.

19. Discuss the significance of the recent amendments made in the NIA act and the UAPA Act for
countering terrorism. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Briefly introduce about growing threat of terrorism for India.
 Then mentioning the amendments brought in NIA Act, bring out its significance.
 Discussing amendments in UAPA Act, bring out its significance.
 Conclude briefly.
Answer:
India faces considerable threat of terror acts owing to both internal and external factors. Many of these
terror activities are found to have complex international linkages and possible connections with
transnational organised crime. Terrorism is an evolving phenomenon, with terrorist organizations
continuously changing their modus operandi, thereby adding to the complexity and challenges faced by
the criminal justice institutions.

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 In this regard, the Parliament passed amendments to the NIA and the UAPA act to strengthen the legal
and institutional systems to tackle terrorism in India.
The amendments made to the NIA Act and its significance in combating terrorism:
 Broaden the scope of investigation and prosecution: The latest amendments will enable the NIA to
additionally investigate offences related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or
sale of prohibited arms, cyber-terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
This would provide more teeth to the organization as the terror organizations are now utilizing
organized crime networks to boost their resources.
 The NIA officers will now have the power to investigate offences committed outside India. The
Centre may direct the NIA to investigate such cases as if they had been committed in India. This
holds significance in matters related to escape of perpetrators of terror attacks to other countries.
 It enables the Central government to designate sessions’ courts as special courts for such trials. It
would facilitate speedy investigation and prosecution.
 The Amendment Bill puts section 66F of the Information Technology Act into the Schedule listing
offences. Section 66F deals with cyber terrorism.
NIA investigates terror related cased and makes strategy to combat terrorism. The conviction rate of
NIA is very high so it is expected that these amendments would further increase the efficiency of the NIA
in tackling terrorism in India.
Amendments made to the UAPA Act its significance in combating terrorism:
 It seeks to empower the central government to designate an individual a “terrorist” if they are
found committing, preparing for, promoting, or involved in an act of terror. This is seen as being
necessary because banned groups tend to change their names and continue to operate. Also,
designating an individual as terrorist is an international practice and is of prime importance to nip
terrorism in bud.
 The amendment to the Act empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to
investigate cases. This would remove the unnecessary delays and provide more responsibility to the
officers lower down in the hierarchy.
 The amendment to the Act also removes issues of conflict with the state governments in case of
seizure of property related to terror organizations. Now, if investigation is conducted by an officer
of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the approval of the Director General of NIA would be
required and not the DGP of the state for seizure of such property.
 The schedule of Act defining terrorist activities is extended to nuclear terrorism as well.
Strengthening the investigating agencies and bringing in more clarity though these amendments will give
the required teeth to them. However, few concerns like following due process while designating an
individual as terrorist, clarity over definition of terrorism which is still undefined needs to be addressed.

20. The national security architecture needs to be robust enough to deal with present and evolving
threats. Elaborating on the statement, discuss the recent steps taken for modernisation of the national
security architecture. (250 words) 15
Approach:
 Giving a brief introduction about changing scenario with respect to national security.
 Discus the present threats as well as evolving threats that is creating requirement of robust national
security architecture.
 Discuss the steps taken for the modernization of National security architecture in India.
 Conclude briefly with some suggestions.

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Answer:
India faces a very challenging strategic environment, with its immediate opponents possessing
significant capabilities and militaries that are modernizing rapidly. The National Security Architecture of
India needs to be robust enough to deal with current as well evolving security threats, which are:
 Complex global relation with increasing tension between USA, Russia, China. Also, USA withdrawal
from Afghanistan will have a serious impact on our security. American sanctions against Russia
directly impinge on our military hardware purchase.
 Pakistan has moved from credible minimum deterrence to full spectrum deterrence marked by
acquisition of tactical nuclear weapon forcing India to reconsider its nuclear doctrine.
 Emerging warfare like threat to cyberspace as witnessed in 2017 WannaCry ransom ware attack.
Also, it is creating serious threat to our critical infrastructures. Propaganda videos and messages are
other forms of emerging security concerns.
 In addition, the Indian state has to deal with domestic insurgencies, emerging from tribal, ethnic,
religious and linguistic grievances as well as disaffection in the North East.
 Rising power of China in Indian and Pacific Ocean needs a revamped military doctrine and power.
In this context, it can be said that various weaknesses in our national security architecture need to be
addressed. The Silo driven approach to defence planning has resulted in the lack of integrated view. The
episodic and reactive approach to national security is no longer suited to the times. India needs to fill
the existing gaps in military and machineries powers along with moving towards indigenization of
military hardware.
Several steps have taken lately to modernize the national security architecture in India, such as:
 Establishment of a Defence Planning Committee under the chairmanship of the National Security
Advisor (NSA) to sharpen the overall decision-making process.
 Reconstitution of the Strategic Policy group (SPG) with NSA as the head instead of the Cabinet
Secretary to ensure smooth coordination and implementation of decisions taken by the SPG.
 Formation of three tri-services agencies to create a joint structure for cyber, space and special
operations across the three armed forces.
 Reorganization of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) with appointment of three new
Deputy NSAs and a military advisor to ensure better coordination.
 Clear cut mandate for all Deputy NSAs with each of them being assigned with the charge of
technological and scientific affairs, strategic affairs and internal security respectively.
 Appointment of Chief of Defence Staff, which is meant to be a single point military advisor to the
government, and to coordinate long term planning procurements, training and logistics of the three
services.
 Establishment of NCIIPC for protecting critical infrastructure in the country. Also, CERT-In is looking
into any cyber security threats and creating alerts.
 Promoting indigenization through Make in India program and rationalizing Defence Procurements as
well key strategic partnership in defence are also part of modernizing and making the national
security architecture more robust.
However, certain major areas of reforms also need to be addressed. One of these relates to the creation
of a coordinating centre for effective operationalization of terror related intelligence inputs. Another
is the manpower policy of the Government for intelligence and security agencies which requires more
experts than career bureaucrats. Finally, there is an urgent need to evolve a bipartisan policy on
security-governance by developing a comprehensive National security strategy.

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