general studies...treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use...

1 GS Paper 3_2 Answer Key

GENERAL STUDIES

PAPER – 3_2

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, DISASTER MANAGEMENT, INTERNAL SECURITY

Q1. To make India a Global Innovation hub

for startups it is necessary that India

develops a robust innovation and start-up

policy. Comment on the progress made by India in this regard so far.

(10 Marks, 150 Words)

Approach:

Establish a link between innovation and startups.

Highlight needs to develop a robust innovation and start-up policy in India.

Discuss some salient features of startup policy and step taken by India

in this direction.

At the end write a futuristic and balanced conclusion

Start-ups are at the core of India’s transition journey towards becoming a leading

innovation hub in the world and vice versa.

With the young and dynamic pool of

entrepreneurs and skilled workforce, India is

likely to become a focal point to generate innovative ideas in the near future. India

ranks third after the US and China as the

Top Global Tech Innovation Leader (KPMG

report 2018). To make India a Global

Innovation hub for startups it is necessary

that India develops a diverse and inclusive innovation and start-up ecosystem through a

robust policy which must consider different

sets of challenges (culture, mentoring, hiring,

funding, research, education etc.) and some

stellar opportunities (demographic dividend, large home market, mobile penetration etc.)

A Startup Policy with following salient

features is necessary in this direction:

Fostering strong partnerships between R&D institutions and Industry

Providing early stage/Idea2PoC (Proof of Concept) funding

Creating incubation infrastructure through PPP

Enabling skill development and job creation, supporting social

entrepreneurship and establishing

global accessibility and partnerships.

Provide infrastructure support to strengthen existing mechanisms in

areas like Internet of Things (IoT),

artificial intelligence (AI), machine

learning (ML) and software as a

service (SaaS) should be the core objective of the policy.

The policy should aim to collaborate with educational institutions to

promote entrepreneurial spirit.

Reduce existing regulatory and tax burden on startups in the field of

labor, pollution and building norms

and also partner with reputed investors across the globe to bring

investment to India.

The state and central public sector undertakings (PSU) shall be

encouraged to adopt incubators and

channelize their corporate social

responsibility (CSR) funds.

India’s progress or step taken in this

direction:

In recent years, a wide spectrum of new programmes and opportunities to nurture

innovation has been created by the

Government of India across a number of

sectors. From engaging with academia,

industry, investors, small and big

entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations to the most underserved

sections of society has been a priority.

The government seeks to bring women to the forefront of India’s

entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing access to loans, networks,

markets and trainings.

Startup India: Through the Startup India initiative, Government of India

promotes entrepreneurship by

mentoring, nurturing and facilitating

startups throughout their life cycle.

Make in India: Designed to transform India into a global design and

manufacturing hub

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM): to promote a culture of innovation and

entrepreneurship, and it serves as a

platform for promotion of world-class

Innovation Hubs, Grand Challenges, start-up businesses and other self-


employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas.

Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP): to

train women with no access to formal

skill training facilities, especially in

rural India.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC): for

strategic research and innovation in

all biotech enterprises, and bridge the

existing gaps between industry and

academia.

Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED): to provide opportunities to motivate scientists

and field level workers to undertake

action-oriented, location specific

projects particularly in rural areas.

Stand-Up India: to leverage institutional credit for the benefit of

India’s underprivileged.

India cannot become a leading innovation

hub without the support of states;

cooperative federalism will play an important

role here. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, with their startup policies have

shown their commitments. Other states

should also come ahead to develop a robust

startup and innovation ecosystem.

Q2. Space faring nations are in the race of weaponization of space. In this context

discuss the prospects of Indian anti-space

satellite mission Sakthi.


Approach:

1. Mention about the Mission Shakthi.

2. Discuss about the weaponization of space

by other nations.

3. Mention about the various international

space related treaties. 4. Mention the significance of Mission

Shakthi to security of India.

5. Make appropriate conclusion.

Mission Shakthi: Mission Shakthi was an anti-satellite missile

test carried out by the Defence Research and

Development Organization (DRDO). It was a

very complex test and it is based on the direct

kill technology. One of the Indian satellites in

the low earth orbit earth targeted was made as target and the test became success. With

this achievement India entered the elite group

of US, Russia and China having the

technology to destroy satellites in orbit.

Weaponization of space: The theatre of conflict have reached the

fourth dimension and it is the space.

Countries like US, Russia and China have

already have the technology to destroy the

orbiting satellites. In 2007 China conducted its anti-satellite test

and the target was a satellite orbiting at an

altitude of over 850 Km from Earth's

surface.It created a huge debris in the space

which still remains in the space threatening

other orbiting satellites including the International Space Station. Recently the US

initiated its Space Command to military

operation in space. Russia and China have

similar kind of organizations.

International Space treaties:

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer

Space is a forum for the development of

international space law. The Committee has

concluded five international treaties and five

sets of principles on space-related activities.

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration

and Use of Outer Space, including the

Moon and Other Celestial Bodies

Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts

and the Return of Objects Launched

into Outer Space

Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects

Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space

Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other

Celestial Bodies

These treaties ban the weaponization of space only to the weapons of mass destruction and

no to other conventional weapons.

Mission Shakti and Indian Security:

India has a robust space program which is

growing at a rapid pace. The mission was conducted to ensure that India has the

capability to protect its interest in space. The

ability to conduct anti-satellite tests will act

as a deterrent on other nations thinking of

attacking India space assets. As Indian space

program acts as the backbone of the security, economic and social infrastructure, it is

inevitable to have the technology. The

technology developed can be utilised in other

areas like future manned space missions and

social sectors. India’s aspiration to become a global power should also be backed by robust

security command in all dimensions of

possible conflicts.


Conclusion:

The mission was not directed against any

nation. At the same time Government is

committed to ensuring the country’s national

security interests and is alert to threats from emerging technologies. The capability

achieved through the Anti-Satellite missile

test provides credible deterrence against

threats to our growing space-based assets

from long range missiles, and proliferation in

the types and numbers of missiles.

Q3. India’s position in the top 500 list has

improved with the launch of Pratyush. In

this context discuss the features of India's

National Supercomputing Mission. (10 Marks, 250 Words)

Approach:

1. Describe the features of the Pratyush and

Indian ranking in top 500.

2. Mention the application of the Pratyush supercomputer.

3. Discuss about the national

supercomputing mission.

4. Mention about the areas of application of

supercomputing technology. 5. Provide befitting conclusion.

Pratyush:

Pratyush is the fastest supercomputer in

India with the peak performance of around 4

petaflops per second. It is unveiled in 2018 which improved India’s ranking in the Top

500 list of supercomputers to 53 rd position.

It is housed in the Indian Institute of Tropical

Meteorology in Pune. Along with Pratyush,

another supercomputer named Mihir was also unveiled. The combined capacity of

these two systems is around 6.8 petaflops per

second.

Application of Pratyush:

Pratyush along with the Mihir will be used for the dynamic weather prediction. The complex

nature of the Indian monsoon makes the

utilization of the supercomputers for

advanced dynamically predictions systems.

Pratyush and Mihir will be deployed for the following:

Seasonal prediction mainly for SW monsoon

season of June to September.

Extended range prediction for the next 20

days.

Short range prediction up to 8 days. Generation of probabilistic forecasts for

extreme weather.

National Supercomputing Mission: The mission envisages the empowerment of

national academic and R&D institutions

spread over the country by installing a vast

supercomputing grid comprising of more than

70 high-performance computing facilities. The main objectives of the national

supercomputing mission are

1. To make India one of the world leaders in

Supercomputing and to enhance India’s

capability in solving grand challenge

problems of national and global relevance. 2. To empower our scientists and researchers

with state of the art supercomputing facilities

and enable them to carry out cutting-edge

research in their respective domains.

3. To minimize redundancies and duplication of efforts, and optimize investments in

supercomputing.

4. To attain global competitiveness and

ensure self-reliance in the strategic area of

supercomputing technology.

The Mission would be implemented and

steered jointly by the Department of Science

and Technology and Department of

Electronics and Information Technology.

Major areas of application of

Supercomputers:

The high computational capacity of

supercomputers allows the empirical analysis

of huge data which allows building of efficient

modeling and simulation. The supercomputer finds application across many fields, some of

them are Climate Modelling, Aerospace

Engineering, Computational Biology,

Molecular Dynamics, Atomic Energy

Simulations, Disaster Simulations and Management, Computational Material

Science and Nanomaterials and Big data

analytics among others.

Conclusion:

The Mission also includes development of

highly professional High Performance

Computing aware human resource for

meeting challenges of development of these

applications. The Mission implementation would bring supercomputing within the reach

of the large Scientific & Technology

community in the country and enable the

country with a capacity of solving multi-

disciplinary grand challenge problems.

Q4. Over a million species are at risk of

extinction. Discuss this statement with

reference to the Intergovernmental

Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity


and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment Report.


Approach:

1. Provide an overview of the IPBES Global Assessment Report.

2. Mention about the findings of the report.

3. Discuss about the measures suggested to

mitigation.


IPBES:

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy

Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem

Services (IPBES) is an independent

intergovernmental body, established by the member States in 2012. The objective of

IPBES is to strengthen the science-policy

interface for biodiversity and ecosystem

services for the conservation and sustainable

use of biodiversity, long-term human well-

being and sustainable development.

Global Assessment Report:

The Global Assessment Report examines the

state of nature, its ecosystems, and its

contributions to people. The Global Assessment aims to empower policy makers

with the knowledge and evidence to make

better informed decisions when developing

policies and taking actions for the benefit of

both people and nature. It evaluates how far

the world has come and measures needed in achieving key international goals ranging

from the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDG) and Aichi Biodiversity Targets, to the

Paris Climate Agreement. also outlines the

forces that affect biodiversity and ecosystems, forecasts what the future holds if trends

continue or change, and explains what this

all means for people and policy over the next

three decades.

Findings of the report: The report warned the global community

about the consequences of the loss of

biodiversity and the role of humans in the

process. It also drawn parallels between the

biodiversity and climate change. Some of the findings of the report are

Half-a-million to a million species are projected to be threatened with

extinction, many within decades.

Accelerating loss of clean air, drinkable water, CO2-absorbing

forests, pollinating insects, protein-

rich fish and storm-blocking mangroves poses similar threats as

climate change.

Biodiversity loss and global warming are closely linked.

Deforestation and agriculture, including livestock production,

account for about a quarter of

greenhouse gas emissions.

The number of people in the world and their growing ability to consume

indirectly drives the climate change

and biodiversity loss.

Three-quarters of land surfaces, 40% of the marine environment, and 50%

of inland waterways across the globe

have been “severely altered”.

Many of the areas where nature’s contribution to human well-being will

be most severely compromised are home to indigenous peoples and the

world’s poorest communities that are

also vulnerable to climate change.

More than 2 billion people rely on wood fuel for energy, four billion rely

on natural medicines, and more than

75% of global food crops require animal pollination.

Nearly half of land and marine ecosystems have been profoundly

compromised by human interference

in the last 50 years.

Subsidies to fisheries, industrial agriculture, livestock raising, forestry,

mining and the production of biofuel or fossil fuel energy encourage waste,

inefficiency and over-consumption.

Measured proposed to mitigate the

disaster: The report proposed a few key interventions

which can create positive changes in the

biodiversity of the earth and they are

Developing incentives and widespread capacity and eliminating perverse

incentives.

Reforming sectoral and segmented decision-making to promote integration across sectors and

jurisdictions.

Taking pre-emptive and precautionary actions in regulatory and management

institutions and businesses.

Managing for resilient social and ecological systems in the face of

uncertainty and complexity.

Strengthening environmental laws and policies and their implementation, and

the rule of law more generally.

Conclusion:

Humans are part and parcel of the ecosystem

and his very existence depends on the


natural resources of the ecosystem. The biodiversity will create instability in the

ecosystem and threatens the human

livelihood activities. One of the best examples

is the pollinators like bees and butterflies,

without them agriculture will become futile. But the use of pesticides and other chemicals

results in the loss of these pollinators. Hence

it is the right time for the global community

to consider the biodiversity loss similar to

climate change and take necessary measures

to reverse the extinction of species.

Q5. Climate change and Air pollution are

two sides of the same coin. Evaluate.


Approach:

1. Discuss about the interlink between the

climate change and air pollution.

2. Mention the impact of air pollution and

climate change.

3. Discuss about the measures taken to reduce the negative consequences.

4. Provide appropriate conclusion.

Climate change and Air pollution:

Climate change is the result of rising global temperature levels due to global warming.

The global warming is caused due to

greenhouse gases and ozone depletion. Some

of the greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide,

methane, nitrogen oxides among others.

These greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere mainly due to anthropogenic

activities which is called as air pollution.

Thus the air pollution and climate change are

very closely linked to each other.

Impact of air pollution and climate

change:

Though the air pollution and climate change

was present even before the advent of the

modern industrial society, it has been

aggravated to unsustainable level from the last century. Some of the impact of air

pollution and climate change are

Air pollution:

Health consequences due to reduction in quality of air.

Formation of acid rain.

Accumulation of greenhouse gases and resulting in global warming.

Ocean acidification and threat to marine biodiversity.

Ozone depletion and increased UV radiation.

Climate change:

Increase in average global temperature.

Rise in sea level due to polar ice melting.

Erratic weather patterns like cyclones and drought.

Crop failure and climate related migration.

Extinction of species and biodiversity.

Measure taken to reduce negative

consequences: The Paris Climate agreement under the

United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the umbrella

agreement to reduce global warming by not

more than 2 degree celsius of the pre industrial level temperatures. The montreal

protocol aims to reduce ozone depleting

substances like chlorofluorocarbons. India

has taken measures like launching of

National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Real

time monitoring of the air quality in major cities, adoption of renewable energy,

encouraging the use of e-Vehicles, and

submission of the intended nationally

determined contributions to UNFCCC among

others. Measures are also taken under Green India program to increase the green cover

which act as a carbon sink.

Conclusion:

The measure taken to control air pollution

will have an impact on the climate change. These two phenomena should be approached

in a comprehensive manner during policy

formulation. It can be said that the climate

change and air pollution acts as a vicious

cycle as increase in one will increase the other. Hence it can be said that climate

change and air pollution are two sides of the

same coin.

Q6. What is proton therapy? Mention its

advantage over traditional radiotherapy to cancer patients.


Approach:

1. Explain the concept of proton therapy.

2. Explain the mechanism of the proton therapy.

3. List out the advantages of the proton

therapy.

4. Provide a befitting conclusion.

Proton therapy:

Proton therapy is an advanced type of

external beam Radiation Therapy. In Proton

Therapy, surgeons use high-energy proton

beams, instead of X-rays, to treat cancer.


These high-precision beams irradiate the tumour and destroy it by attacking only the

cancer cells. It is considered one of the most

advanced forms of radiation therapy in the

world. This can be attributed to the high

levels of precision that the procedure offers, as compared to other treatment options.

Mechanism of Proton therapy:

The proton therapy for cancer treatment are

carried out in the following manner:

1. Protons are accelerated in a machine called the cyclotron which results in the particles

becoming highly energized. Protons carry a

charge and mass that is typically higher than

photons used in conventional radiology.

2. The beam then enters the treatment room via the gantry. The 360-degree revolving

gantry facilitates delivery from any angle;

enabling the proton beams to reach the most

complex and hard to access tumours.

3. The protons reach the targeted area and

slow down sufficiently to release a burst of energy. State-of-the-art Pencil Beam

Scanning delivers the radiation dosage pixel

by pixel, ensuring peak precision.

4. In proton therapy, the velocity of the

protons is regulated to ensure the burst occurs at the precise site of the tumour,

minimizing damage to healthy tissue around

it. This results in minimal side effects, faster

recovery and a better quality of life.

Advantages of the Proton therapy: Some of the major advantages of the proton

therapy when compared to the traditional

radiation therapy are

Targeted delivery: Proton therapy allows the radiation oncologist

modulate energy and fix the peak dose of radiation exactly where it is

required.

Better outcomes: Pencil Beam Scanning paints the entire tumour

with high powered radiation resulting

in an almost 80% decrease in the

chances of secondary cancers.

Minimum side effects: Proton’s inherent accuracy delivers precise

radiation with no exit doses. This

minimizes side effects and

dramatically augments the quality of

life post-treatment.

Conclusion:

Advancement in medical technologies

helps in the betterment of human society.

Particularly the radiation therapy for cancer is said to be more painful and has many side

effects. In this scenario, the development of

the proton therapy is promising to reduce the side effects and painful nature of the

treatment. Adequate measures have to be

taken all patients are accessible to the

technology and not excluded due to the cost

of the treatment.

Q7. Describe the features of plastic waste

rules. Also, discuss other measures taken

by India to reduce the plastic waste

generation.

(10 Marks, 150 Words) Approach:

1. Discuss about the menace of the plastic

waste.

2. Mention about the features of the plastic waste management rules, 2016.

3. Mention about other measures taken to

reduce plastic waste.


Plastic waste and environment:

Most plastics are non-degradable in nature

which affects the disposal of the waste

generated. Due to lack of adequate waste

processing infrastructure they will remain where they are discarded until they are

cleared up. The amount of land needed for

landfills is an increasing concern around the

world. Only a small percentage of plastics is

recycled. New plastic is mostly made of fossil

raw materials, while recycled plastics are still hardly used in high-grade products.

Plastic waste management rules, 2016:

1. Increase minimum thickness of plastic

carry bags from 40 to 50 microns and stipulate minimum thickness of 50 micron for

plastic sheets also to facilitate collection and

recycle of plastic waste

2. Expand the jurisdiction of applicability

from the municipal area to rural areas,

because plastic has reached rural areas also 3. To bring in the responsibilities of

producers and generators, both in plastic

waste management system and to introduce

collect back system of plastic waste by the

producers/brand owners, as per extended producers responsibility

4. To introduce collection of plastic waste

management fee through pre-registration of

the producers, importers of plastic carry bags

or multilayered packaging and vendors selling

the same for establishing the waste management system

5. To promote the use of plastic waste for

road construction as per Indian Road

Congress guidelines or energy recovery, or

waste to oil etc. for gainful utilization of waste


and also address the waste disposal issue; to entrust more responsibility on waste

generators, namely payment of user charge

as prescribed by local authority, collection

and handing over of waste by the institutional

generator, event organizers. 6. An eco-friendly product, which is a

complete substitute of the plastic in all uses,

has not been found till date. In the absence of

a suitable alternative, it is impractical and

undesirable to impose a blanket ban on the

use of plastic all over the country. The real challenge is to improve plastic waste

management systems.

Other measures to reduce plastic

pollution:

India conducted the World Environment Day

in 2018 with the agenda of Beat Plastic

Pollution. The multilayered plastics are which

are non-recyclable, or non-energy

recoverable, or with no alternate use are to be phased out. Many of the state governments

like Maharashtra and Tamilnadu among

others have banned the use of plastic bags in

their respective states. Alternative to the

plastic bag have been distributed by proactive local governments.

Conclusion:

The inexpensive production and application

in packaging industries has made the plastic usage to rise multifold all over the world. The

indiscriminate usage of plastic associated

with lack of effective waste disposal

infrastructure has created havoc to terrestrial

and marine ecosystems. Regulations to control plastic waste will have significant

impact only when the rules are associated

with behavioural changes of the human

society.

Q8. With reference to the Sustainable Development Goals Baseline Report, 2018

analyze the advances made by India

towards sustainability.


Approach:

1. Give a brief introduction of the Sustainable

Development Goals.

2. Mention advances made by India based on

the baseline report, 2018.

3. Discuss about measures needed to achieve the SDG by 2030.


Sustainable Development Goals:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was adopted in the United Nations

Sustainable Development Summit, 2015. It

contains seventeen goals which are a

universal call to action to end poverty, protect

the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. It is followed by the

erstwhile Millenium Development Goals

(MDG). SDG is more comprehensive than

MDG. The SDG are interconnected and

focuses on the areas like climate change,

economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other

areas.

Advances made by India in achieving SDG:

Baseline Report of the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDG) India Index was

released by the NITI Aayog. The Index spans

13 out of 17 SDGs. Progress on SDGs 12, 13

& 14 could not be measured as relevant

State/UT level data were not available and SDG 17 was left out as it focuses on

international partnerships. The performance

of India in achievieng the SDG can be

grouped into three heads as follows:

Good progress:

Promotion of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth (SDG 8)

Reduction of inequality (SDG 10)

Promotion of peaceful and inclusive society (SDG 16)

Protection of terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15)

Moderate progress:

Access to sustainable and modern energy (SDG 7)

Ensure healthy life and wellbeing (SDG 3)

End poverty (SDG 1)

Quality education (SDG 4)

Sustainable management of water and sanitation (SDG 6)

Slow progress:

Gender equality (SDG 5)

Inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities (SDG 11)

Resilient infrastructure (SDG 9)

End hunger (SDG 2) Overall Himachal Pradesh ranks high on

providing clean water & sanitation, in

reducing inequalities & preserving mountain

ecosystem. Kerala’s top rank is attributed to

its superior performance in providing good

health, reducing hunger, achieving gender


equality & providing quality education. Chandigarh leads because of its exemplary

performance in providing clean water &

sanitation, affordable & clean energy,

generating decent work & economic growth, &

providing quality education.

Measures needed to achieve SDG by 2030:

The effective implementation of the SDG

needs complementary measures from the

state governments as many of the targets like health and education lies under the preview

of the states. Hence the states and local

governments are prime stakeholders in

implementing the SDG by 2030. Some of the

measures needed for the effective implementation of the SDG are

1. Envisioning of the SDG by the states and

Union territories.

2. Setting up of an implementation structure.

3. Mapping of developmental programmes.

4. Capacity development of the field level organizations.

5. Linking of the SDG with the budget.

Conclusion:

SDGs represent a transformative agenda and

will not be achieved through business-as-

usual approach. It needs an innovative,

efficient, holistic, and disruptive initiatives

only can put India on a fast-track to achieve

the SDGs. The achievement of SDG will help to mitigate the imminent danger of disasters

due to climate change and global warming.

The success of the SDG needs effective

cooperation among all stakeholders like the

government at all levels, corporates, NGO’s and the public at large.

Q9. India has taken several measures to

increase its forest cover. Have these

measures yielded the desired result?

Enumerate the key findings of the Indian State of Forest Report, 2017.


Approach:

1. Mention about the Indian forest cover

targets. 2. List out the key findings of the Indian State

of Forest Report, 2017.

3. Mention the measures taken to increase

the forest cover in India.

4. Discuss about the challenges to the

measures aimed to increase the forest cover. 5. Provide befitting conclusion.

Indian forest cover:

National forest policy, 1952 had envisaged to

have 33% of the total land area of the country

under forest cover. India is a diverse country where the forest forest changes over space

and time. Presently the forest and tree cover

in India is estimated as 24.39% of the total

land area is still short of the 33% target. In

spite of the enormous population pressure the forest cover over has shown significant

increase.

Indian State of Forest Report, 2017:

Indian State of Forest Report is the biennial

publication by the Forest Survey of India which makes an assessment on Indian forest

resources. The report contains information on

forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover,

growing stock inside and outside the forest

areas, carbon stock in India’s forests and forest cover in different patch size classes.

Some of the key findings of the report are

Forest and Tree Cover of the country has increased by 8,021 sq km (1 %)

and the very dense forest has

increased by 1.36 % as compared to

assessment of 2015.

Top 5 states where maximum forest cover has increased are Andhra

Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha

and Telangana.

Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased are Mizoram, Nagaland ,

Arunachal Pradesh , Tripura and

Meghalaya. It is important to mention here that these states are in the North

Eastern region of the country where

the total forest cover is very high i.e.

more than 70% in each state.

Water bodies inside forest cover has increased by 2,647 sq km during the last decade.

Mangrove forests have increased by 181 sq km with Maharashtra, Andhra

Pradesh and Gujarat as the top three

gainers in terms of mangrove cover.

Total carbon stock in the forest is estimated to be 7,082 million tonnes.

It is an increase of 38 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as

compared to the last assessment.

Measures to increase forest cover in India:

India had taken many steps to increase its

forest cover to 33%. It can be said that increasing trend of forest and tree cover is

largely due to the various national policies

aimed at conservation and sustainable

management. Some of the efforts taken to

increase forest cover are as follows:

Green India Mission

National Agroforestry policy (NAP)

REDD plus policy

Joint Forest Management (JFM)


National Afforestation Programme

Compensatory Afforestation Fund to states

Challenges:

The major threat to the Indain forest cover is

the rising population pressure on the forest

lands. Land is required for agriculture and settlement which are inevitable to feed and

shelter the Indian population. Some of the

challenges to increase the forest cover in

India are

Shifting cultivation

Rotational felling

Diversion of forest lands for developmental activities

Submergence of forest cover

Agriculture expansion

Natural disasters

Conclusion:

India is ranked tenth in the world, with

24.4% of land area under forest and tree

cover, even though it accounts for 2.4 % of

the world surface area and sustains the needs of 17 % of human and 18 % livestock

population. The Food and Agriculture

Organisation also ranked India eighth in the

list of top ten nations reporting the greatest

annual net gain in forest area. This is a clear

indication of the success of the Indian efforts to increase the forest cover.

Q10. Enumerate the features of the Sendai

framework for disaster risk reduction.

Discuss about the significance of National Disaster Management Plan of India in

disaster risk reduction.


Approach:

1. Give an overview on Sendai framework. 2. List the features of the National Disaster

Management Plan.

3. Discuss the significance of the plan in

disaster risk reduction.

4. Make a befitting conclusion.

Sendai framework:

Sendai framework is a set of best practices

envisaged by the United Nations International

Strategy for Disaster Reduction for disaster

risk reduction for 2015-2030. The Sendai Framework was the first international

agreement adopted within the context of the

post 2015 development agenda. The

framework outlines four priorities actions to

prevent new and reduce existing disaster

risks: Understanding disaster risk;

Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;

Investing in disaster reduction for resilience

and;

Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective

response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

It aims to achieve the substantial reduction of

disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods

and health and in the economic, physical,

social, cultural and environmental assets of

persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years.

National Disaster Management Plan:

The National Disaster Management Plan

(NDMP) was released by the National Disaster Management Authority. It provides a

framework and direction to the government

agencies for all phases of disaster

management cycle. The plan reduces the

ambiguity of responsibility and command

structure by clear allocation of responsibility. It is envisaged as ready for activation at all

times in response to an emergency in any

part of the country. The plan is applicable in

all phases of disaster management like

mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Significance of the NDMP in disaster

management:

The NDMP recognizes the need to minimize, if

not eliminate, any ambiguity in the responsibility framework. It, therefore,

specifies who is responsible for what at

different stages of managing disasters. It is

consistent with the approaches promoted

globally by the United Nations, in particular the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk

Reduction 2015-2030. The plan makes clear

about the following:

Measures to be taken for prevention of disasters or the mitigation of their

effects

Measures to be taken for the integration of mitigation measures in the development plans

Measures to be taken for preparedness and capacity building to

effectively respond to any threatening

disaster situation or disaster

Roles and responsibilities of different Ministries or Departments of the

Government of India in respect of measures related to the above three

aspects.

Conclusion:


In case of disaster management during emergency situations needs a clear command

structure for the allocation of relief materials

and human resources. This plan gives a clear

guidelines about the responsibility to take

actions in the disaster management. Hence it will help India to achieve the disaster risk

reductions inline with the Sendai framework.

Q11. Genetic engineering technology has

opened up new avenues in the field of

agriculture in India and the world. But for achieving higher yield, we need

interaction between technology and public

policy. Discuss.


Approach:

Start with a short background of Genetic engineering (GE) crops.

How india and world is adopting these technology in their agriculture

Discuss several advantages of GE crops

Mention about the need of balance between technology and public policy for achieving maximum benefit.

Provide an appropriate conclusion.

The global population is estimated to reach

9.6 billion by 2050; we need to increase our

crop production by at least 60% to feed all

the extra mouths. Since 1996, when Genetic engineering (GE) crops were first grown

commercially, their global cultivation had

seen an approximately 100-fold jump —

making GE crops the most accepted crop

technology of today.

Genetic engineering technology has

opened up new avenues in the field of

agriculture in India and the world in

several ways:

In the last two decades, many countries have

adopted GE crops and the USA is the largest

producer of GE crops in the world. Bt cotton,

the only GE crop under cultivation in India,

covers around 95% of the total cotton growing

area. In a short period of 12 years, around 7.7 million farmers have adopted Bt cotton in

India. As a further advancement, a total of

1128 varieties of Bt cotton hybrids have been

allowed to be commercially released by GEAC

from 2002-2012 for various zones of India.

Bt cotton shows resistance to Lepidopteran

insect pests, which cause massive losses, as

high as 80% of the crop to sometimes a total

crop failure. Remarkably, cultivation of Bt

cotton has reduced 95% of the total insecticides used against these pests.

Further, India’s total cotton contribution has

risen from 14% (2002-2003) to 25% (2014) in

the world cotton market. Similar to Bt cotton,

release of Bt brinjal was proposed by GEAC. However, the release was blocked in 2010 due

to opposition.

At present, many other crops are at various

stages of development and/or field trials in

India. These include brinjal, cabbage, castor, cauliflower, chickpeas, corn, cotton,

groundnut, mustard, okra, papaya, potato,

rice, rubber, sorghum, sugarcane, tomato,

watermelon, etc. These crops have been

targeted for improvement in different traits, which preferentially include resistance to

insect pests, viral and fungal diseases,

tolerance to pesticides, nutritional

enhancement, male sterility and tolerance to

drought/soil salinity.

Need of balance between technology and

public policy:

Agricultural innovations are seldom socially or environmentally neutral,

and may incur externalities that require regulatory frameworks.

Markets are often imperfect and, by themselves may be inadequate to

support technology development.

Private sector companies will not invest in technological development if

there is no legal protection against

violation of patent rights or other fraudulent practices.

Undue regulation could retard the introduction of new technology and

restrict access to farmers.

Governments can play a very important role in the development and

fostering of such institutions,

especially in enhancing legal and regulatory frameworks relating to

agricultural inputs and research

outputs.

No doubt Genetic engineering technology has

opened up new avenues in the field of agriculture in India and the world, but for

achieving the higher yield, an enlightened

policies in areas such as plant varietal

regulation, seed system development,

fertilizer marketing and quality assurance, pesticide usage, and protection of trade

related intellectual property rights is need of

hour so that maximum benefit of these

technological development can be achieved.


Q12. Today's knowledge-society is dependent on digital connectivity. In the

light of the recently launched GSAT11

explain how space development is

supporting the needs of India in the area

of high speed digital connectivity? (15 Marks, 250 Words)

Approach:

You can start with the role of digital connectivity in knowledge society.

Give some background of development of digital connectivity in India

Highlight the limitations of ground infrastructure of digital connectivity and how space technology helps to

overcome these limitations.

Explain the role of GSAT-11 mission in providing digital connectivity.

In knowledge society, common man’s life and culture have been radically changed due to

the information revolution brought by the

digital connectivity and these changes are

mirrored in every dimension of life.

India faces various hurdles as it aims to

transform itself into a technologically

developed nation. With an estimated 462

million internet users online, India has the

second largest internet user base after China.

But, with more than 65 percent of the population without access to internet

connectivity, India’s task is

difficult.Therefore, providing high-bandwidth

internet to such a large, widely distributed

population creates a need to look beyond the ground infrastructure. Space technology may

yet have all the answers.

Satellite internet provides an economical

solution to most of the challenges faced by

ground infrastructure. Optical fibres bring in higher capacity in a concentrated fashion,

while space-based technologies are effective

at distributing capacity over a large area.

Moreover, accessing space-based internet is

as simple as getting DTH television services—all a consumer needs is an antenna on the

rooftop, and a set top box inside the house.

Satellite infrastructure also complements the

ground internet network. Areas where ground

infrastructure is difficult and cost-intensive

to penetrate, Space Commerce satellite infrastructure can easily cover. Moreover, it

also frees ground infrastructure from the

burden of being incremental as telecom

towers with satellite as backbone can now be

deployed in new areas without worrying about surrounding infrastructure.

In today’s era, satellite based broadband

connectivity that combines voice, data and

video streaming holds immense potential and

will be a game changer, this satellite will meet

most of the requirements of providing broadband connectivity to rural and

inaccessible gram panchayats under

BharatNet Project, which is part of the digital

India program initiative of Government of

India. ISRO has always played a significant

role in establishing a strong communication infrastructure within the country, the GSAT-

11 mission is expected to further contribute

in doing the same.

The GSAT-11 has mission life of about 15 years, hence a large communication satellite

like this can be used to connect smart cities.

Apart from enabling broadband,

telecommunication and multimedia solutions

to households, businesses and public

organisations, the satellite is also capable of enabling in-flight connectivity. The satellite

can also apparently support high data rate

services across the country.

Q13. Climate change is likely to increase the frequency and scale of disasters.

Briefly explain the need to move away

from disaster management to disaster risk

management as emphasized in the

Sustainable Development Goals.


Approach:

Start with establishing link between Climate change and disasters

How Climate change increasing the frequency and scale of disasters

Differentiate between disaster management and disaster risk

management approach

How Sustainable Development Goals covers or promote disaster risk

management

Climate change affect disaster risks in two

ways, firstly through the likely increase in weather and climate hazards, and secondly

through increases in the vulnerability of

communities to natural hazards, particularly

through ecosystem degradation, reductions in

water and food availability, and changes to

livelihoods. Climate change will add yet another stress to those of environmental

degradation and rapid unplanned urban

growth, further reducing communities’

abilities to cope with even the existing levels

of weather hazards.


From Disaster Management to Disaster Risk Management

According to UNISDR, disaster management

is “the organization, planning and application

of measures preparing for, responding to and, initial recovery from disasters.” In other

words, its focus is on organization and

management of resources and responsibilities

for addressing all aspects of emergencies and

initial recovery steps. Since its focus is on

preparedness for decrease of the impact of disasters, disaster management is mostly

reactive.

On the other hand, disaster risk management

is defined as “the application of disaster risk reduction policies and strategies to prevent

new disaster risk, reduce existing disaster

risk and manage residual risk, contributing

to the strengthening of resilience and

reduction of disaster losses.” The revised

definition states: “disaster risk management is the application of disaster risk reduction

policies, processes and actions to prevent new

risk, reduce existing disaster risk and

manage residual risk contributing to the

strengthening of resilience.”

Disaster Risk Reduction in Sustainable

Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development recognizes and reaffirms the urgent need to reduce the risk of disasters. In

addition to direct references to the outcomes

of the Third UN Conference on DRR (Sendai

Framework), there are specific opportunities

to achieve SDGs through reducing disaster risk. For example,

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms

everywhere

Target 1.5, which relates to building the

resilience of the poor, further strengthens the position of disaster risk reduction as a core

development strategy for ending extreme

poverty.

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote

sustainable agriculture

Target 2.4 supports the immediate need to

advance actions in mainstreaming disaster

risk reduction and climate adaptation into

agriculture sector planning and investments in order to promote resilient livelihoods, food

production and ecosystems.

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote

well-being for all at all ages

Target 3.d, which relates to strengthening early warning and risk reduction of national

and global health risks presents an

opportunity to further actions to promote

resilient health.

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable

quality education and promote lifelong

learning opportunities for all

Target 4.7 focusing on building and

upgrading education facilities and promoting

education for sustainable development, contribute significantly to resilience-building

in the education sector.

Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable

management of water and sanitation for all Target 6.6, which relates to protecting and

restoring water-related ecosystems, will

significantly contribute to strengthening the

resilience of communities to water-related

hazards.

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote

inclusive and sustainable industrialization

and foster innovation

Targets 9.1 related to developing sustainable

and resilient infrastructure development are vital not only to protect existing

infrastructure but also future infrastructure

investments.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements

inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Action targets under this goal (11.1, 11.3,

11.4, 11.5, 11.b and 11.c) focusing on

upgrading urban slums, integrated urban

planning, reducing social and economic

impacts of disaster risk, building the resilience of the urban poor, adopting and

implementing urban policies in line with the

Sendai Framework and building sustainable

and resilient urban infrastructure are

strategic opportunities to ensure increase

capacity to support cities, protect current and future development prospects and build safer,

more resilient cities throughout the world.

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat

climate change and its impacts Target actions under this goal, focusing on

strengthening resilience and adaptive

capacity, capacity building and integrating

climate change measures into policies and

plans, awareness raising on climate

adaptation and early warning (Targets 13.1 to 13.3 and 13.a to 13.b) provide opportunities

to strengthen the integration between

disaster and climate resilience to protect

broader development paths at all levels.


Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the

oceans, seas and marine resources for

sustainable development

Target action 14.2, focusing on the

sustainable management and protection as well as strengthening resilience of marine and

coastal ecosystems, can contribute to

reducing disaster risk and increase in

demand for healthy marine and coastal

ecosystems.

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote

sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,

sustainably manage forests, combat

desertification, and halt and reverse land

degradation and halt biodiversity loss. Target actions 15.1 to 15.4 and 15.9,

focusing on managing and restoring forests,

combating land degradation and

desertification, conserving mountain

ecosystems and their biodiversity and

integrating ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development

processes, poverty reduction strategies, all

contribute to resilience building. These

targets are also in line with the Sendai

Framework's focus on building environmental resilience through the inclusion of

ecosystems in risk analysis and planning.

Q14. Developing countries will be more

affected by climate change. In this context

discuss the intended nationally determined contributions of India in the

Paris climate agreement.


Approach: 1. Mention some points on effect of climate

change on developing countries.

2. Discuss about the India’s vulnerability to

climate change.

3. List out the intended nationally determined

contributions of India. 4. Provide appropriate conclusion.

Climate change and developing countries:

CLimate change is a global phenomenon but

the developing countries will be impacted disproportionately for the actions of the

developed countries. It causes major changes

in the natural patterns like rainfall and in

order to mitigate the damage the technology

will be inevitable. The developed countries

will have the adequate finance to take up research and development of technology, but

it is difficult for developing countries. Hence

they have to depend on the developed

countries for the technology. This makes

them more vulnerable to climate change.

Vulnerability of India:

India has one of the longest coastlines which

may cause inundation of coastal areas due to

sea level changes. The coastal areas houses

the largest population of India, which may result in climate related migration.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian

economy and more than fifty percent of the

population directly depend on farming for

their livelihood. Climate change will change

the rainfall pattern which will be detrimental to agriculture. In addition, failure of rainfall

results in scarcity of drinking water which

will cause social unrest. These are some of

the vulnerability of India to climate change.

Indian Intended nationally determined

contribution:

1. To put forward and further propagate a

healthy and sustainable way of living based

on traditions and values of conservation and

moderation. 2. To adopt a climate friendly and a cleaner

path than the one followed hitherto by others

at corresponding level of economic

development.

3. To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005

levels.

4. To achieve about 40 percent cumulative

electric power installed capacity from non

fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030

with the help of transfer of technology and low cost international finance including from

Green Climate Fund (GCF).

5. To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5

to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through

additional forest and tree cover by 2030. 6. To better adapt to climate change by

enhancing investments in development

programmes in sectors vulnerable to climate

change, particularly agriculture, water

resources, Himalayan region, coastal regions,

health and disaster management. 7. To mobilize domestic and new & additional

funds from developed countries to implement

the above mitigation and adaptation actions

in view of the resource required and the

resource gap. 8. To build capacities, create domestic framework and international

architecture for quick diffusion of cutting

edge climate technology in India and for joint

collaborative R&D for such future

technologies.

Conclusion:

In relative terms Indian contribution to

climate change is smaller than the US and

China, but India will be most vulnerable due

to sea level changes and monsoon failures.


The action against climate change should be a collective effort from the international

community based on the common but

differentiated responsibility. The developed

countries should help the developing

countries with financial assistance and technology transfer. Hence the action from

humanity as a whole will help to reduce the

damage due to climate change.

Q15. Explain how roots of many

insurgencies in the North-East India lie deep in its history and its geography?

Examine the role of economic policies in

determining the future of these

movements in the North-East.


Approach:

Mention different reasons for the insurgencies in the North-East India.

Mention about the historical and geographical factors for these

insurgencies

Establish a link between economy of the region and insurgencies

Highlight the need of different approach in economic policies to

rejuvenate the economy of Northeast

The insurgency in the North-East started way

back in the early 1950s. Since then the

insurgencies in this region have multiplied and spread to many new areas. In this

extremely diverse and strategically sensitive

region, there are different reasons for the

ethnic upsurges and insurgencies in different

states and its root can be found in its history and its geography.

The partition of the country seriously

dislocated the old system of communications

with serious demographic consequences. The

partition left the entire region land-locked, and even the old road, railway and river-

waterway links with the rest of the country

were severed, because they all passed

through East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The

new rail link via North Bengal is circuitous and too long and expensive for easy access to

the region. The air link is not only expensive,

but also unreliable due to climatic conditions.

The people have to bear enormous additional

transport cost for all their supplies.

Another intractable problem is created by the

influx of migrants from East Pakistan and

now continuing from Bangladesh. In the

beginning it was confined to the Hindus

leaving East Pakistan due to insecure conditions, but later, because of the intense

population pressure even Muslims started migrating. The fear that immigrant

population will one day dominate them is

keeping many of the insurgent and

secessionist movements alive.

Physiographically the region can be divided

into three broad areas — hills, plateaus, and

plains. The many ethnic groups, speaking

many different languages and dialects, who

inhabit this remote part of the country

consider themselves as separate people with little in common with the people in the rest of

the country. The lack of physical, cultural

and emotional links has encouraged this

feeling of separation.

The terrain in this region is eminently

suitable for insurgency. The hilly terrain and

dense forests provide convenient hiding

places to mount ambushes on the moving

convoys of the security forces. Large parts of

the interior areas have little or no police presence. The insurgent groups virtually

control the administration in these areas.

After attacking the security force they can

easily disappear into the local population.

Because of deprivation and alienation, a large section of the people tend to be sympathetic

to the members of these groups.

It is the alienation of the people that have

sustained insurgency all these years, though

logistic support and sanctuaries provided by the neighbouring states play a vital role in

sustaining them. The dispersion of ethnic

groups across international boundaries has

profoundly influenced the nature of political

conflicts.

History and geography have encouraged

negative sentiments rather than positive

sentiments about India. Strategically,

politically and economically the North-East is

the most sensitive part of the country and should receive the serious attention it

deserves.

Most of these states are not financially viable.

They hardly collect any revenue and depend almost entirely on the Union government for

financial support.Through years of neglect

this potentially rich region is today the most

backward, almost primitive, part of our

country. A sound economic policies with

following approach can play an important role:

Need for Market based Approach

Human Resource Development

Economic Revival


Encouraging MNCs

Developmentof Physical infrastructure

Tourism

Development of Entrepreneurship In short, we can conclude that rejuvenating

the economy of Northeast in the context of

liberalization requires a multi-dimensional

approach in an integrated manner. The most

important initiatives should include

revolutionary changes in economic and social priorities and planning. Development of socio

economic infrastructure, fuller utilization of

natural resources, development of

entrepreneurial culture and above all

extending transnational ties will determine the future of Northeast in the near future.

Q16. Why Cybersecurity needs to be

integrated into every aspect of policy and

planning in India? Critically analyze

whether India has taken enough steps to make its cyberspace safe and secure?


Approach:

In Intro discuss about some basic information about digital economy.

In body part discuss the need for

Cyber Security framework.

Discuss also about initiatives by Government for Cyber Secure

Framework.

Discuss the issues in implementing the initiatives by Government .

Provide appropriate conclusion .

India is one of the key players in the digital

and knowledge-based economy, holding more than a 50% share of the world’s outsourcing

market. Pioneering and technology-inspired

programmes such as Aadhaar, MyGov,

Government e-Market, DigiLocker, Bharat

Net, Startup India, Skill India and Smart Cities are propelling India towards digital

transformation. In such a situation, there is

need for cyber secure environment to protect

the digital economy.

Need for Cyber Security framework: 1. In India there is a huge number of

online users due to continued efforts

towards affordable access to the

internet. To protect the user data,

there is a requirement for safe cyber Secure system.

2. Increasing incidence of Ransomware

attacks : Like WannaCry and Petya

causes economic harm to companies

and citizens of the country. So , in

every aspect of policy making cyber

security concern should be taken into consideration.

3. Digital transformation of the

governance System: Due to initiatives

like Aadhar, digital India and

electronic National agriculture market (e-NAM) whole service delivery

mechanism is transforming into

digital platform. In absence of proper

cyber security system, whole public

service mechanism will be disrupted.

So to protect whole governance system, a cyber security framework is

desired.

4. Even for maintaining peace, prosperity

and security in the country, Cyber

Secure system is required. 5. In the absence of cyber secure

framework, there are more chances of

religious indoctrination, hate speech,

drug trafficking and money

laundering.

6. So it can be said that secure cyberspace is desirable for every

aspect of life like health, education,

and infrastructure and governance

system. In such case, Cyber Security

framework is desirable for every aspect of policy making.

Government has taken a number of

legislative, technical and institutional

measures for addressing issues related to

cyber security. These include National Cyber Security policy (2013), enactment of

Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and

setting up of Indian Computer Emergency

Response Team (CERT-In).

Some specific measures taken by the

Government of India to strengthen cyber

security system in the country are as

under:

1. National Cyber Security Coordinator

(NCSC) under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS)

coordinates with different agencies at

the national level for cyber security

matters.

2. Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted to provide legal recognition for

electronic communication, electronic

commerce and cybercrimes etc. IT Act

has deterrent provisions to deal with

cyber threats and cyber-attacks.

3. The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues

alerts and advisories regarding latest

cyber threats and countermeasures on

regular basis.


4. National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre

(NCIIPC) has been established for the

protection of critical information

infrastructure in the country.

5. Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis

Centre) has been launched for

detection of malicious programs and

provide free tools to remove the same.

6. The National Cyber Security Policy

2013 was released for the purpose to ensure a secure and resilient

cyberspace for citizens, businesses

and the government.

Issues in the government initiatives for secure cyberspace:

1. Lack of uniformity in devices used for

internet access: Due to lack of

uniformity in mobile devices, it is

difficult to set legal and technical

standards for data protection by the regulators and protect cyberspace.

2. Lack of national level architecture for

Cybersecurity: Critical infrastructure

is owned by private sector, and the

armed forces have their own firefighting agencies. However there is

no national security architecture that

unifies the efforts of all these agencies

to be able to assess the nature of any

threat and tackle them effectively.

3. Lack of awareness - Even after National policy on cybersecurity, there

is a lack of awareness at both

company level as well as individual

level. Domestic netizens can protect

and be protected from the cyber attacks only if there is a guided and

supervised legal framework.

Way Forward:

India has taken many steps to secure

cyberspace but some implementation issues should be resolved. There is need for

increasing awareness among citizens

regarding secure cyberspace. There is also a

requirement for legal framework regarding

secure cyberspace. In this direction, Justice BN Srikrishna committee report can be

implemented through legal framework for

data protection and secure cyberspace.

Q17. India’s central armed police forces

(CAPF) is facing some serious structural and administrative problems. In this

context, what steps should be taken by the

Central government for effective

functioning of the central armed police

forces (CAPF). Critically analyze whether

there is a need to end the hegemony of IPS in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).


Approach:

1. In Intro discuss basic function of central armed police forces (CAPF).

2. Discuss about the initiatives required

for overhauling the CAPF.

3. Discuss about both the positives and

negatives to end the IPS hegemony.


India has federal-level armed police

organizations that constitute the central

armed police forces (CAPF) under the Ministry

of Home Affairs (MHA). The CRPF and the BSF are the two biggest ones among them.

Their mandate is to assist the state police

organizations under special circumstances

like communal riots, insurgency and border

skirmishes.

Steps for overhaul the problems faced by

central armed police forces (CAPF):

1. Modernization of CAPFs: For

modernization of CAPFs there is requirement for uninterrupted supply

of equipment and other infrastructure.

In this direction The Modernization

Plan II (2012-17), was approved by the

Cabinet Committee on Security, to

provide financial support to CAPFs for modernizing arms, clothing, and

equipment. Procurement process is

cumbersome and time consuming. In

this direction bottlenecks in

procurement should be identified and corrective action should be taken.

2. Deployment of CAPFs: there was

heavy dependence of states on central

armed police forces (CAPFs), even for

everyday law and order issues. This

was likely to affect the anti-insurgency and border guarding operations,

besides curtailing the training needs

of these forces. To tackle such

situations, states must develop their

own systems, and augment their police forces by providing adequate

training and equipment. The central

government should supplement the

efforts of state governments by

providing financial assistance and

other help needed by states for capacity building of their forces.

3. Training of CAPFs: There is an urgent

need to update the curriculum and

infrastructure in training institutes for

CAPFs. while purchasing state-of-the-


art equipment, government should ensure that training needs are taken

care of and if needed, it may be

included in the purchase agreement

itself. The training should be a mix of

conventional matters and latest technology like IT, cyber security, and

cyber crime.

4. Intelligence gathering: There is a need

to improve the intelligence gathering

mechanism, which should be

strengthened and modernized within the shortest possible time frame. an

effective intelligence gathering

mechanism should be developed, with

synchronization between agencies and

no delays in sharing of information. 5. There is absence of a robust in-house

grievance redressal mechanism to

address the CAPF personnel.

6. One Rank One Pension scheme

should be extended to Central Armed

Police Forces.

Argument in favour of ending the IPS

hegemony:

1. Lack of field experience: There is an

argument that most of the promotional benefits at the highest

level of the organization are reserved

for the IPS cadre even when the

majority of them do not have field

experience. This also happens when

the commissioned officers of the CAPFs are selected by the Union

Public Service Commission.

2. Demoralizing effect: Top positions in

CAPFs are occupied by IPS officers.

This has a demoralizing effect on the officers of the CAPFs, and impacts the

effectiveness of the forces. There was

frustration in CAPFs due to stagnation

in promotions and lack of cadre review

3. In this direction, A parliamentary

panel has also recommended that the post of Director-General and other

senior positions in Central Armed

Police Forces (CAPF) should not be

reserved for Indian Police Service

officers.

Argument in favour of continuing the IPS

hegemony:

1. There is an argument that exposure,

training and grooming of an IPS officer

matches with the job requirements for the senior posts of CAPFs. So there is a

requirement of

Reserving these posts for IPS officers.

2. The inter-departmental coordination

between various CAPFS and State Police

becomes smooth and seamless with the presence of IPS officers in every CAPF,

therefore IPS officers are best suited to lead

and provide supervisory direction to any

CAPFs in an effective, efficient and impartial

manner at these ranks

Way forward:

There is a requirement of overhauling of

CAPFs in terms of resource allocation,

accountability structure and personnel

management. Modernization of CAPFs is required for improving the capability of the

Armed forces.

Q18. Border management is a complex

task due to difficult terrain and hostile relations with some countries. In this

context, discuss how space technology is

an effective tool for border management?


Approach: In Intro discuss about the basic features of

India’s border.

Discuss about the role of space technology in

border management.

Provide appropriate conclusion.

India shares approximately 15000 km long

land border with its neighbours along with a

7500 km long coastline. Difficult terrain like

mountains, deserts and rivers in the border

area make border management a difficult task. India sits with two hostile neighbors

and a range of Border related issues with

other neighbors like infiltration, illegal

migration, human trafficking and insurgency

etc. To solve such problems, space technology is an effective tool.

Role of space technology in border

management:

Timely Information: Satellites provides the information to various

security agencies. For instance, weather satellites can provide timely

information about topographic

features and weather conditions,

which are critical to military and

paramilitary operations.

Intelligence inputs and Surveillance:

through Remote sensing satellites, radar satellites and satellites with

synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

sensors which are capable of

providing day and night all-terrain

and all-weather inputs.

Checking infiltration: by using low earth orbit surveillance satellites,

which would in turn enable the


blocking of infiltrators through suitable force deployment. In this

regard, the active deployment of

Medium Altitude Long Endurance

(MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

(UAVs) and High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs will improve

India’s surveillance and

reconnaissance capabilities.

Defending the invisible: Earth observation satellites provide detailed

images of hot spots where border

crossings peak. India uses the RISAT and Cartosat spacecraft to capture

still images as well as high-resolution

video of the nation’s disputed borders.

Coordination between agencies: While defence forces already use space

technology, border forces depend on intelligence shared by central agencies

like IB, RAW and National Technical

Research Organization. They also face

poor communication issues in areas

like Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal

Pradesh and Kashmir Valley. With satellite technology border security

authorities can exchange information

or access critical data from

headquarters, border checkpoints or

on the-move border patrol units.

Border Surveillance Border Infrastructure Monitoring: Space technology is a vital tool for

infrastructure monitoring in border

area.

Communication and Navigation: Satellites are the most important tool

for navigation in difficult terrains of border area.

Way forward

Space technology should be used in

comprehensive integrated border

management system(CIBMS) so that there is effective management in the border area.For

effective border management, there is also a

requirement for improving the capability of

border guarding forces in terms of

infrastructure, modern equipment and Intelligence gathering system so that there is

efficient use of Space Technology.

Q19. Discuss the significance of the

Comprehensive Integrated Border

Management (CIBM) in controlling the cross border terrorism on the India-

Pakistan border region.


Approach:

1. Explain the concept of Comprehensive Integrated Border Management.

2. Mention the various components of the

CIBM.

3. Discuss the effectiveness of the CIBM in

controlling cross border terrorism. 4. Make appropriate conclusion.

Comprehensive Integrated Border

Management:

The comprehensive Integrated Border

Management is a seamless integration of human resources, weapons, and high-tech

surveillance equipment. It gives a composite

picture to the command centres and classify

the threat and mobilise resources accordingly

to assist the field commander. It will eventually replace manual patrolling of

international borders by electronic

surveillance and organising the BSF

personnel into quick reaction teams to

enhance their detection and interception

capabilities.

Components of the CIBM:

The three main components of the CIBM are

1. New high-tech surveillance devices such as

sensors, detectors, cameras, ground-based radar systems, micro-aerostats, lasers as well

as existing equipment for round-the-clock

surveillance of the international border.

2. An efficient and dedicated communication

network including fibre optic cables and

satellite communication for transmitting data gathered by these diverse high-tech

surveillance and detection devices.

3. A command and control centre to which

the data will be transmitted in order to

apprise the senior commanders about the happenings on the ground and thus providing

a composite picture of the international

border.

CIBM and cross border terrorism:

India and Pakistan shares boundary of around 3323 km and along this border the

line of control is most active due to cross

border infiltrations into India from the

Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The undulating

topography of the terrain makes the effective patrolling and monitoring the borders a

challenging task. The infiltration into India

happens through the streams and tunnels

among others.

The CIBM with the utilization of technologies

like laser fences, unmanned aerial vehicles, sensors, radars and CCTV among others will

make the monitoring of the border and

deployment of the troops more effectively. It

will also help to assess the areas frequented

by the intruders and formulate actions


accordingly by military commanders. It reduces the errors caused by human fatigue

due to working in harsh environments. Thus

the CIBM will help in effective measure to

address the menace of cross border terrorism

and other illegal activities.

Conclusion:

Technical solutions are necessary to augment

and complement the traditional methods of

border guarding. They not only enhance the surveillance and detection capabilities of the

border guarding forces but also improve the

impact of the border guarding personnel

against infiltration and trans-border crimes.

However, caution must be exercised while advocating the use of high-tech and high-cost

electronic devices for border security as

complete dependence on technology may be

disastrous during technology failures. Hence

a combination of technology and traditional

surveillance holds good for border management.

Q20. What is Gaganyaan Mision? Discuss

its significance for Indian space industry.

What are the challenges that India is facing for success of this Mission?


Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital

spacecraft that is intended to send 3

astronauts to space for a minimum of seven days by 2022, as part of the Indian Human

Spaceflight Programme (HSP).It will be for the

first time that India will launch its manned

mission to space, making the country fourth

in line to have sent a human into space.

Importance of Gaganyaan mission

an opportunity to build expertise in the human-space interface-one of the

trickiest technologies to master.

The mission will enable ISRO to achieve higher levels of reliability in

launch and satellite technology. It will help in providing employment to

15,000 people and out of them, 861

will be from Isro

Manned space mission will give a boost to the country's industrial

growth and spark technological spin-

offs that would benefit the public.

Importantly, without cutting-edge challenges, ISRO scientists would

languish and fall behind in the new-

age space race.

The manned mission will also inspire our young to take up science in far

greater numbers

Challenges for India regarding Gaganyaan Mission

Development of the orbital module: The orbital module is divided into two

systems: a crew module that houses

the astronauts, and a service module

that maintains the speed and orientation of the spacecraft using

rocket motors apart from the power

supply generated from solar cells.

In the crew module, the major challenge is to maintain the internal

environment so as to make it

comfortable for the three astronauts during their week-long sojourn in

space. That will require the

temperature to be maintained at a

pleasant 20 degrees centigrade even

when the outside temperature is minus 60 degrees or even colder.

Scientists will have to find space to store food and water in the capsule,

apart from managing human waste-a

taxing challenge in zero gravity

conditions with everything floating

around.

Biggest task of all will be selectin

general studies...treaty on principles governing the activities of states in the exploration and use...

Documents