Archives: Questions

Q.2 What are the issues facing fiscal federalism in India? How do these issues affect the states’ role in addressing the socio-economic inequalities? (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comments- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-poor-state-of-indias-fiscal-federalism/article65690849.ece In the intro, mention the role of the Finance Commission in fiscal transfers in India.…

July 29, 2022
Q.1 What are Marine Heat Waves (MHW)? Identify the causes of their formation and discuss their consequences for India. (15 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Start with a brief concept about Marine Heat Waves (MHW). Highlight the factors responsible their formation.…

July 29, 2022
Q.4 “I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.” ― Mahatma Gandhi. Explain. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Explain the meaning of the quote from author’s perspective along with suitable examples. Provide the significance…

July 28, 2022
Q.3 What is gross domestic product (GDP) ? What are the implications of weakened correlation between GDP growth and formal sector jobs? (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/whose-gdp-is-it-anyway/article65685838.ece In the intro, mention the issue of obsession with GDP in the political as well…

July 28, 2022
Q.2 How populist policies and freebies affect the interest of the country? What are the factors that need to be considered while formulating the policies for welfare? (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pm-modis-remarks-on-revdi-culture-should-be-heeded-by-those-promising-imprudent-unsustainable-subsidies-8055674/ In the intro, mention the recent debate on the welfare policies and thin line between…

July 28, 2022
Q.1 Regionalism in India is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, at once geo-cultural, politico-economic and, above all, psychological. Discuss. (15 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Briefly explain the concept of regionalism. With the help of examples, discuss how regionalism in India…

July 28, 2022
Q.4 The ideals of ‘Dhamma’ by Ashoka present key learnings on public morality. Discuss. Also, state their relevance for public servants. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Introduce by explaining the meaning of ‘Dhamma’. Discuss in brief the ideals of ‘Dhamma’ by Ashoka…

July 27, 2022
Q.3 Why public investment is important for India’s economic growth? Analyse the change in investment distribution in the past decade in India. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/weighing-in-on-indias-investment-led-revival/article65678946.ece In the intro, mention that India’s long term growth prospects are embedded in public capital…

July 27, 2022
Q.2 How China’s military modernisation, nuclear expansion and strategic assertiveness underscores the need for new debate about India’s nuclear weapons policies? Suggest the way forward. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/its-time-india-and-japan-rethink-their-nuclear-policy-8051160/ In the body, mention the use of nuclear threat by Russia during the Ukraine crisis.…

July 27, 2022
Q.1 Indian cities are not only mimicking the social and cultural structures of inequality and exclusion found in rural areas but are also creating fault lines for future conflicts. Discuss. (15 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Give a brief introduction on urbanisation in India. Mention the social and cultural structures of inequality…

July 27, 2022
Q.4 What do you understand by conformity, compliance and obedience? Discuss their relevance in the context of civil services in India. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Establish that conformity, compliance and obedience are social influence processes. Explain each with an example. Discuss…

July 26, 2022
Q.3 What are the reasons for discrimination or bias in the AI? How agreement reached at the UNESCO on AI governance could help deal with the issues with AI? (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-new-global-standard-for-ai-ethics/article65548955.ece In the intro, briefly mention the increasing adoption of AI in various walks of life.…

July 26, 2022
Q.2 “The combined financial firepower, human capital, and technology prowess available between the two countries would place the world on a safer and more stable plane. The India-US partnership is, in that sense, not a nicety but a necessity for the new multipolar world order.” Comment. (15 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-key-to-us-india-partnership-defence-and-technology-cooperation-8049285/ In the intro, mention the emergence of China and India to make the global order…

July 26, 2022
Q.1 The window to realise India’s demographic potential is narrowing with time. Discuss in context of factors affecting the employability of Indian youth and their remedial measures. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Briefly mention the recent reports on demographic dividend of India. Explain the reasons affecting the employability…

July 26, 2022
Q.4 “A well-developed Emotional intelligence is not only an instrumental tool in accomplishing goals, but has a dark side as a weapon for manipulating others by robbing them of their capacity to reason.” Analyse. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Define Emotional Intelligence (EI). Discuss how it helps in achieving goals. Throw some light on the…

July 25, 2022
Q.3 What are the issues with the use of monetary policy instruments to deal with the food-prices-driven inflation? Suggest the way forward. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-cost-of-misrepresenting-inflation/article65661880.ece In the intro, mention the issue of rising inflation in the world. In the body,…

July 25, 2022
Q.2 Technically, a subsidy is the unrecovered cost of any service (or good) provided by the government. What are the purposes served by the subsidies and what are the issues with it? Suggest the way forward. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pms-revdi-remark-we-need-to-disentangle-good-subsidies-from-bad-8043837/ In the intro, mention that there has been debate over the culture of political populism…

July 25, 2022
Q.1 Though various women organisations have played a key role in promoting entrepreneurship among women, there continue to exist obstacles that impede women entrepreneurship. Discuss in the context of India. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Briefly mention the current status of women entrepreneurship. Mention the role played by women organisations in…

July 25, 2022
Q.4 An Indian company is active in the telecom sector and is the majority owner of a telecom company based in other geographies across the world. At one of its European headquarters, there emerged whistleblowing allegations that a local executive was bribing local government officials in order to obtain telecom cabling and construction contracts from the local government. The kickbacks were allegedly paid through a third-party consultant. More specifically, there were allegations that the executive, the third party, and a government official had some sort of business interest in common, possibly shareholdings in a limited company or the joint ownership of an undisclosed asset. The company is thought to be particularly close to the ruling dispensation in India and the news has now raised pressure to put its business operations in India under scanner as well. In this context, answer the following questions: (a) What are the ethical challenges in the given case? (b) Identify the different stakeholders and their interests. (c) As the CEO of the firm, how would you respond to the given situation? (20 Marks)

Mentor’s Comments- Start with a very brief summary of the case. Mention the stakeholders and list the ethical…

July 22, 2022
Q.3 India is vulnerable to climate change-induced disasters. In context of this, suggest the approach India needs to adopt to deal with the challenges. (10 Marks)

Mentor’s comment- https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/indias-climate-imperative/article65654280.ece In the intro, mention the increasing frequencies of extreme weather events due to climate change…

July 22, 2022

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