SYNOPSIS [4th February,2022] Day 5: IASbaba’s TLP (Phase 1): UPSC Mains Answer Writing (General Studies)

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SYNOPSIS [4th February,2022] Day 5: IASbaba’s TLP (Phase 1): UPSC Mains Answer Writing (General Studies)

1. Do you think morality can always be upheld by a public servant? What if moral behavior is inconsistent with the law? Comment. 

Approach-

Candidates need to write about the morality and it’s interrelation with laws. Explain how difficult is to uphold the morality and how morality can be inconsistent with law. Conclude with how morality can be developed with changing behaviour and enriching moral conscious. 

Introduction–

Morality stems from individual’s conscience and values of a society, therefore, what morality means to one, may not be to other. Whereas, laws are the rules and regulations which has sanction of the state and enforceability on its back. Law of the land is regulations where an individual has to submit himself to the will of the state or society.

Body

Upholding morality always by public servants:

• Moral resilience in public service is often tested due to prevailing work culture, political interference. It is difficult to keep up the strong moral values of love and compassion. 
• Shift from moral values impacts the administration process and Welfarism of the most deprived section of society. 
• Truthfulness is very much important as it is directly related to a person’s moral character. Many times public servant is corrupt he is not being truthful to himself so his integrity comes under question which is a moral trait.
• Public servant had to defend violence behaviour and insanity by armed forces police in the larger public national interest but it may be against the moral character of officer.
• For example Suppose DM of tribal area planning to build a road through jungle and that’s the only option available. Its above moral attitude against tribal people sentiment but at the same time knows roads significance pursue to displace the tribes. 
• At such times it is necessary for public servant to uphold there moral values to work in true public interest. Ethics and morality should come from the soul, only then our society will emerge as a powerful entity.

Moral behaviour inconsistent with the law:

• Various laws have been made to curb the evil of immorality but their weak enforcement has acted as a hindrance in it for example Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, code of conduct rules, Lokpal. 
• However, laws deal with only external affairs of humans while morality deals with both external and internal affairs. Hence Laws cannot be used to regulate internal affairs of man even when they are immoral e.g. immoral acts like rude attitudes of people towards others, selfishness, telling lie etc. Are not regulated by law.
• Individual behaviour can’t be controlled every time. There are situations where we have stringent laws but still, we observe a lack of morality in many parts of life and area. 

Where there are laws but still society lacks morality:

• We have well-defined tax laws, but there are less compliance and tax avoidance by using lope holes in tax laws, which is immoral.
• There are harsh punishments for rape by laws, but every minute a girl is being raped in the world.
• Similarly, we have laws for theft but it is happening every now and then. 
• In spite of constitutional provisions, we still see cases of untouchability as the full moral conscience of the people has not been aroused in favour of such laws. 

Conclusion

The only check against the breach of morality is social condemnation or individual conscience. Moral actions are a matter of choice of inner conscience of the individual; laws are a matter of compulsion. Law cannot be made on each and every aspect of life. More than law behavioural change is the key to a moral society, as rightly said by BR Ambedkar, “No law can protect us if it’s not avowed by the moral conscience of the society at large”.

2. What do you understand by journalistic ethics? Explain with the help of suitable examples. 

Approach

Students are expected to write about what is journalistic ethics and also to write about journalistic ethics values with suitable examples. 

Introduction

If the foundations of journalism ethics are tracked far enough, one finds that they are based on various international agreements and declarations, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and regulations of international law. The UNESCO declaration regarding mass media (1978) and the Paris Declaration (1983), which were backed by numerous journalist associations, defined the ethical guidelines more accurately in questions related to media and journalism.

Body

Journalistic ethics:

Journalistic ethics are basically a set of principles, standards, guidelines and code of conduct prepared for professional journalists. It deals with conduct, character and behaviour of a journalist and how he/she works before, during and after the news gathering and dissemination process.

Maintaining journalistic ethics with few principles and values:

• Truth and Accuracy: Journalists cannot always guarantee ‘truth’, but getting the facts right is the cardinal principle of journalism. We should always strive for accuracy, give all the relevant facts we have and ensure that they have been checked. When we cannot corroborate information we should say so. For example avoiding Yellow journalism and paid news.
• Objectivity: The absence of objective journalism leads to the false presentation of truth in a society which affects the perception and opinions of people.  As observed in the case of Cambridge analytica case, the biased news coverage on social media platform affected the Presidential elections in the U.S.
• Independence: Due to corporate control of media and profit making attitude now days it observed that media acts less ethically & immorally on many instances. 
• Humanity: Journalists should do no harm. What we publish or broadcast may be hurtful, but we should be aware of the impact of our words and images on the lives of others. For example avoiding reporting based on communal angle and creating misleading headlines as done in pandemic by few channels on tabligi Jamaat issue.
• Responsibility and Accountability: A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves accountable. For example recent TRP manipulation by few TV channels in 2020. 
• The chase for sensationalism and higher TRP rates as observed in the coverage of 26/11 terrorist attacks in India risked the internal security of the nation. The sensationalism-driven reporting compromised the identities of rape victims and survivors despite SC guidelines.
• Fairness and Impartiality: Most stories have at least two sides. While there is no obligation to present every side in every piece, stories should be balanced and add context. For example avoiding engaging in one-sided media trials as recently done in SSR case, lobbying for personal gains, blackmailing, manipulating news stories, engaging in malicious and defamatory reporting, running propaganda and disinformation campaigns.

Conclusion

Journalistic ethics is more than a gut feeling of right and wrong. It encompasses a broad set of standards that are under constant review, and you, as a practitioner, must take the ethical responsibilities of the profession seriously at all times, in that way you will bring honour to journalism and see to it that you have helped to maintain the integrity of its practice for future generations.

3. What do you understand by the term ‘k shaped recovery’? Explain. Discuss the recent context in which it was used. 

Approach

Candidates are expected to write about K shaped recovery in economic perspective. Explain phenomenon in the recent context how it was used to refer the post pandemic economic recovery. 

Introduction

It is clear that India’s economic recovery is two-speed, also called K-shaped by many economists. The two speeds refer to a higher speed enjoyed by the relatively affluent income class, or those industries which have benefited from the pandemic, lockdown, and work-from-home restrictions.

Body

K shaped recovery:

• A K-shaped recovery occurs when, following a recession, different parts of the economy recover at different rates, times, or magnitudes. This is in contrast to an even, uniform recovery across sectors, industries, or groups of people.
• This type of recovery is called K-shaped because the path of different parts of the economy when charted together may diverge, resembling the two arms of the Roman letter “K.”

In the present socio economic context:

• A K-shaped recovery exhibits wealth inequality, greater corporate monopolies, a continuing racial wealth gap, long-term unemployment for low-income workers, and accelerating technological adoption.
• A report by CRISIL indicates that in the year 2021, two-wheeler sales are set to decline by 3%-6% year-over-year on top of a lower base in the year 2020. On the other hand, premium cars and premium motorcycles have been resistant to the pandemic slowdown.
• For example Education, for example, is inherently K-shaped in many places and this has become even more skewed due to Covid-19.
• The taxation policy of the Government insists on maintaining indirect taxes on fuel and consumer products while lowering corporate taxes.
• While inflation soars, the incomes of the middle and lower-middle-class have at best remained constant leading to a sustained loss in disposable income.
• Over five million people lost their jobs in October, according to a Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report. Unemployment coupled with the high food and fuel prices push families into poverty.
• The recovery in the stock market and other such financial assets over the past year has been phenomenal but only less than 5% of India directly benefited from the said recovery.
• The disproportional benefit of the asset price inflation favouring the upper-middle-class further displays the inherent K-shape of the recovery.
• To the extent that Covid has triggered an effective income transfer from the poor to the rich, this will be demand-impeding because the poor have a higher marginal propensity to consume (i.e. they tend to spend-instead of saving) a much higher proportion of their income.
• If Covid-19 reduces competition or increases the inequality of incomes and opportunities, it could impinge on trend growth in developing economies by hurting productivity and tightening political economy constraints.

Conclusion

In the absence of policy interventions, India will continue on the path of a K-shaped recovery where large corporates with low debt will prosper at the cost of small and medium sectors. The government will also have to sharpen its focus on capital spending to contain damage to potential growth.

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