SYNOPSIS: IASbaba’s TLP – 2018: UPSC Mains General

Studies Questions [22nd December 2017]- Day 25

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Q.1) What is crucial in dealing with loss is not to lose the lesson. That makes you a winner in the most profound sense.

Approach:

In ethics paper, you have to use more quotes and examples from great visionary leaders, scientists, politicians, sportsmen’s and any other field, and also you can use from life time examples for better understanding. Mostly there is no right or wrong approach is there, so it is just presenting your point of view with an ethical and humanistic approach.

Introduction:

“What is crucial in dealing with loss is not to lose the lesson. That makes you a winner in the most profound sense”. Is given by Dayananda Saraswati. For instance, in sports, in every athletic contest there is always a winner and a loser, a winning squad or a losing one. As expected, the winner may experience a broad range of emotions in varying degrees of intensity. Similarly, the loser experiences his own wide array of emotions. This is crucial how a person deals with the failure or success and that makes a person a winner in the most profound sense.

What is fear of failure? And how to overcome it:

When people speak of a “fear of failure,” they are really describing a hazy free-floating malaise and feeling of worry or discontent which induces lethargy and explains lack of effort. This malaise protects us from the anxiety that comes with freedom and taking risks. We tranquilize our lives by limiting the amount of anxiety that we experience by not trying anything new or different that might fail.

Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else or producing something else. You have not failed; you have produced some other result. The two most important questions to ask are: “What have I learned?” and “What have I done?”

Some of the famous failures:

Abraham Lincoln: While today he is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of our nation, Lincoln’s life wasn’t so easy. In his youth he went to war a captain and returned a private (if you’re not familiar with military ranks, just know that private is as low as it goes.) Lincoln didn’t stop failing there, however. He started numerous failed businesses, went bankrupt twice and was defeated in 26 campaigns he made for public office.

Another famous personality, Thomas Edison: In his early years, teachers told Edison he was “too stupid to learn anything.” Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. One day, an assistant asked him why he didn’t give up. After all, he failed over a thousand times. Edison replied that he had not failed once. He had discovered over 1000 things that don’t work.

Conclusion:

Failure is only a word that human beings use to judge a given situation. Instead of fearing failure, we should learn that failures, mistakes and errors are the way we learn and the way we grow. Many of the world’s greatest successes have learned how to fail their way to success.

Best Answer: No Best Answer will be given from now on.

2. Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.

Approach:

• Introduction- Mention that the saying is of Swami Vivekananda.
• Explain how truth can be stated in different ways by quoting apt examples.
• Importance of the saying.
• Conslusion

Introduction:

There is one absolute truth, is hard to say and fathom. Swami Vivekanada emphasised that truth can have different perspectives.

Truth can be stated in different ways:

Truth is multi-faceted. Truth, remains true from the point of view of the observer but may be seemingly false from other’s point of view. There has been a perpetual fight of perspectives and will always be as long as truth is concerned. There is no black or white but shades of grey.

Examples-

• Each religion teaches its followers to be truthful and non-violent. However, the ways fof saying same is different.
• Difference in thought process- A person may express his love for the nation by keeping public places clean, another may do so by standing while national anthem is being sung.
• Difference in context- chemical may be a poison or a medicine at the same time.
• For an impoverished person the world would be the worst place to live in, for another prosperous person it would be best place to live in.

Importance:

• Leaders can’t lead without followers, some of the most passionate ideas die an early death because the leader is ineffective. To be able to take people along, inspire them with your vision, you need to know that there are a thousand sides to the same story.
• If you can’t respect the diversity in your teams, you cannot establish a culture of tolerance and respect.
• What other person is saying may seem us to be false but when seen from his/her perspective can be true. Understanding this would help us solve issues in amicable ways. It helps us not be prejudiced against others’ opinions.
• Understanding the other side of the story and other faces of a situation/practice/thought is required before reaching to any conclusion.

Conclusion:

Thus, we need not quarrel over each and every difference of opinion in life. Different opinions must co-exist for the sake of a free world. There is no one absolute truth, it depends on the perspective of the perceiver/viewer. A truth remains truth no matter how it is said and presented.

3.  You are not only responsible for what you say,but also for what you do not say.

Approach:

• This being an open ended question,same can be asked in essay as well.
• Write how one is responsible for what he say in common parlance
• Write second aspect how one also bear responsibility on not saying anything as well
• Write suitable examples, Example should be at multiple levels

Introduction:

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. – Martin Luther

Most of us are pretty clear on the idea that we are responsible for our own words, and that what we say, we own. The classic example is yelling FIRE in a theater. If there is one, you say it and are responsible for helping people out. But the second half is not as commonly considered. What if there was a fire in that theater, and you chose to remain silent? You are also responsible for your silence, for what you failed to say.

Not speaking when wrong is being done is not that much different than helping those doing wrong in the first place. If you can’t convince them to stop doing wrong, you then should at least warn others, that they may prepare to stop them.

Why is what you say important?

Words can be powerful. For those who let them, a word of encouragement or support can make a huge difference in their lives. The same can be said of a person who says an unkind word. But what of a person who chooses silence instead of encouragement, or silence instead of constructive criticism?

In their silence, they have become complicit in the problem at hand, whatever that might be. Whether it is for good not done, or bad not called out or prevented, their silence has weakened the community, the society, and humanity as a whole. Yes, it is that important.

How we are responsible for what we do not say?

1. Accountability- of any state, government, individual, or institution is established only when we ask questions, raise voice and hold accountable of culprit for his wrongdoings. E.g If we do not raise voice against rape incidents, it will encourage rapist and lead to more and more Nirbhaya like incidents.
2. Transparency- can be only achieved if we demand for information. RTI was enacted after successful voice against secrecy and for access to information. If we would have remained silent, secrecy would have continued and many corruption incidents could not have been unearthed.
3. Rule of law- Without raising voice against monarch and anarchy, a rule of law cannot be established. It was various voices in form of revolutions that led to modern concepts of democracy, constitution, fundamental rights, universal franchise etc.
4. Social stability and justice- can only be achieved by a constructive criticism and voice against injustice, otherwise majoritarianism, patriarchy, castism, etc. would prevail and destabilize our social structure through internal conflicts.

From dangerous drug abuse to less-than-voluntary sex work, there are plenty of truly evil things happening in our world. But we turn a blind eye, and do not speak. And in our silence, others suffer. Will our speaking end all suffering? No, of course not. But we can, through acting, help alleviate some suffering.

Conclusion:

We are responsible for what we say. And we have an obligation to say things, however unpleasant it may seem at the time. What will you say today or this week that you might not have said before considering the meaning of this quote? It is up to you to make that decision, and live with the consequences of what you say, or fail to say.

4. An independent central bank augurs well for a democratic politico-economy. However, there should be a mechanism to make RBI and its governor accountable to the Parliament. Do you agree? Critically examine.

Approach:

• Introduction- Mention about central bank of India, about its powers for 2-3lines.
• First part of answer should be how independence of central bank is good for economy. Then 2^nd part mention pros and cons of parliamentary control on RBI
• Conlusion

Introduction:

Reserve Bank of India is an independent organization established under RBI Act of 1935 and nationalized in 1949 which is presently headquartered in Mumbai. It India, RBI is responsible for monetary policies, regulating banks and allied institutions.

Points to be covered:

Need for Independence:

• Technical expertise.
• Long term economic goals and affects.
• Steering of economy.
• Political interference and lobbying.
• Pressure groups.

RBI being accountable to parliamentary control has its own benefits:

Pros:

• Policies convergence: Monetary and Fiscal.
• Accountability to Nation: Public representative.
• Nepotism and corruption.
• Transparency and scrutiny in decision making.
• Lobby group interference in interest rate decisions.
• Global Practices: US, UK etc.

Cons:

• Lack of technical expertise.
• Short term political goals.
• Increased work load to MPs leading to less time for public policies. 

Total answer should contain 8-10 points. Pick points accordingly and explain for a line or two not more than that.

Conclusion:

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Parliament is the temple of democratic setup and they are the representatives of people. So all public institutions established should be responsible to them.  But there should also be limits in parliamentary jurisdiction so that central bank doesn’t become another department under government.

5. India’s engagement with several nations signals a maturing of foreign policy in keeping with its changing interests in a multipolar world. Comment.

Approach:

In the above statement, there are two key words – ‘Several Nations’ and ‘Changing interest’. You have to mention how India’s engagement with other nations has changed with current interests of India.

Synopsis:

India’s international policy started with Non Aligned Movement (NAM) in a bipolar world. You need to keep in mind that Non alignment does not mean being non vocal or neutral. It means that India had an independent stand over international issues.

In today’s multipolar world, India has still got its independent stance and engaged with several countries of the world that have problems amongst themselves. This shows that India is keeping its own interests to the forefront rather than appeasing any country.

You need to enunciate your answer with the help of some examples:

• India’s friendly engagement with neighbouring countries as well as assertion of it presence through surgical strikes
• Engagement with Iran despite sanctions on Iran by USA
• India’s strategic and trade relations with Israel has improved and Israel is one of the leading exporters of arms to India but at the same time, India is keeping its stand on Palestine’s cause in UN.
• India is maintaining cordial relations with China and having its Act East policy as well, where India is improving its relations with South East Asian Countries, many of which are having conflicts with China in South China Sea.

With such a stance India is trying to emerge as a new power center in this multipolar World.

Note: You can add some more or different examples. You can also mention about several international Organizations which India is a part of.

Conclusion:

In recent times, with its large population and positive demographic dividend, India has emerged as the biggest center to provide skilled labour to the world as well as a huge market. This has made India an economic attraction for the world. Apart from this India has also emerged as an important soft power.

In such a scenario, India cannot show its inclination towards one particular center or ideology. India has to a lot to gain from the world as well as to contribute for the betterment of humankind. This is only possible with an independent stand in the world forums and asserting India’s individuality.