This is question set #28 of ‘Clear IAS Mains High Value Answer Writing Test Series’. Mains High Value Answer Writing is a UPSC mains oriented program from ClearIAS.com that consists of 5 questions in each post, published around 8 pm every day. Each of the 5 questions are selected from 5 papers mentioned in UPSC Mains syllabus namely Essay, GS1, GS2, GS3 and GS4 (ethics). Selected questions of high probability to be asked UPSC mains are included in each of these mini tests. Aspirants can choose any question they wish to answer in the comment space provided below, specifying the question.
Questions for Answer Writing – Selections for today:
- Essay Paper: Sexism in workplace. (1500 words)
- GS 1 Paper: [World History/Cuban missile crisis] – The Cuban missile crisis had all potentials to explode into a full scale nuclear war. Trace the historical circumstances which led to Cuban Crisis. How did the crisis end? (200 words)
- GS 2 Paper: [Indian Diaspora] – Why Diaspora is special to India? List out the recent announcements made by Prime Minister with regarding Indian diaspora in his visit to US. (200 words)
- GS 3 Paper: [Indian Economy/Planning commission] What were the functions performed by the planning commission? Of the functions which need to continue to be performed, which should be retained in the new institution and which can be located in other existing bodies? Explain with reasons. (200 words)
- GS 4 Paper: [Values] Distinguish between values and ethics. What are the values that can be learned from the life of (a) Swami Vivekananda (b) Mother Theresa. (200 words)
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PS: Aspirants can select any question they wish to answer in the comment space provided below specifying the question. Answering 3-4 questions, does not take much of your time. But for those who engage regularly in answer writing, the resultant score improvement in actual UPSC exam would be exponential.
GS paper 1
In April 1961, since Cuba was an ally of USSR, the leaders of USSR was worried that USA might invade communist ruled Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro. Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of USSR decided to place nuclear missiles on Cuba and convert it into a Russian base. This move put the US under fire from a close range. The US president John F Kennedy and his advisors were reluctant to do anything that might lead to full scale nuclear war but they were determined to get the missiles removed from Cuba. Kennedy ordered American warships to intercept approaching USSR ships to Cuba to display the seriousness of USA. This is famously known as the Cuban missile crisis.
Had the war taken place between USA and USSR it would have escalated into into a full scale nuclear war. But eventually to the world’s relief, both sideS decided to avoid war. The soviet ships slowed down and turned back.
The Cuban missile crisis thus became the high point of the cold war later.
GS 4 Paper: [Values] Distinguish between values and ethics. What are the values that can be learned from the life of (a) Swami Vivekananda (b) Mother Theresa. (200 words)
Ans : values are the beliefs that a person holds . values are formed during the process of socialization of the person . they act as guiding principles in person ‘ s life .
ethics is the code of conduct that decides whether the action is right or wrong .
values are the general statements which are held dear to the person .
ethics is putting values into effect in concrete situations .
knowing a person ‘ s value gives us an idea of what they want to do in their life .
knowing their ethical stance informs us as to how they will live their values .
example – achievement is a value held by a person . how person achieves is ethics that means if he achieves his goals via fair means , he is ethical otherwise not .
value motivates , ethics constrain .
swami vivekananda
-service to humanity
-equality of mankind
– be practical in all spheres of life
– self improvement
– women education and empowwrment
mother teresa
-love mankind
-take up a cause and do small things
-sympathy to the needy
-forgiveness
-kindness
-do it today , do it now .
– start your service from home
Dhillonz, though you tried to distinguish between Values and ethics, we are not completely satisfied with the answer. Do a little more research and find the deeper meanings of values and ethics. And on the second part, if you get time, try to explain a little more.
The Cuban Missile crisis arose when Nikita khurshchev,president of USSR decided to place medium range ballistic missile on cuba in Oct. 1962. It arose because of 2 reason mainly:
a) America tried to invade Cuba in 1961 but failed therefore USSR along with his ally Fidel Castro,head of Cuba,decided to strong their defence for future invasion.
b) During cold war,many missile was targeted towards USSR from Western Europe and turkey therefore USSR retaliated through Cuban Missile to make it more balance.
When American President ,kennedy knew the situation and its potential to explored into a nuclear war then he and his advisors adopted a two way approach to handle it. First ,Cuba was blockade with American navy so that USSR could not provide more missile.second, An ultimatum was issued to USSR to quick displacement of missile from Cuba.
This led to World wide concern over USSR action on Cuban Missile.acting on the situation,USSR president ,Khurshchev demanded 2 things :
a) US will never invade Cuba
b)Missile from Turkey will be dismantle
The Cuban Missile Crisis ended with US acceptance of demand.although second demand was not accepted.This mutual agreement between US and USSR avoided an unwanted Nuclear war and Hot line communication was also installed in the following year to avoid such kind of situation in future.
USSR on other hand started to invest more in intercontinental ballistic missile.
Garima, not bad, but need to add more details.
GS 1 Paper: [World History/Cuban missile crisis] – The Cuban missile crisis had all potentials to explode into a full scale nuclear war. Trace the historical circumstances which led to Cuban Crisis. How did the crisis end? (200 words)
In January 1959, Fulgencio Batista, the brutal, American-backed Cuban dictator, was overthrown by the guerrilla army of Fidel Castro. Castro believed American domination was a root cause of Cuba’s problems, and it must be ended.To remove Castro, a brigade of about 1,400 anti-Castro Cuban exiles was raised by America.
In 1962, the Soviet Union secretly placed nuclear-tipped missiles on the Communist-led island of Cuba for two primary reasons: (1) to boost the Soviet Union’s power, threatening the U.S. with nuclear attack from the Caribbean and (2) to bolster the Soviet Union’s bargaining position in its attempts to force West Berlin to join East Germany. Additional reasons included defending Cuba from American invasion and bolstering Soviet prestige.
After discovering the missiles in October, the U.S. responded by blockading Cuba. Following a period of intense discussions and fear of a nuclear catastrophe, President John F. Kennedy made a proposal to USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet leader accepted the proposal that
a) Soviets will withdrew the missiles after the U.S. pledged publicly never to invade Cuba
b) America promised privately to withdraw its own nuclear missiles from Turkey.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen-day confrontation from October 15 to October 28, 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over the positioning of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The one positive thing to come out of the crisis was the creation of a hot-line between Moscow and Washington to allow for easier communication between the two nations leaders at a time of crisis.
thanku for review
i ll keep this in mind .
GS 3 Paper: [Indian Economy/Planning commission] What were the functions performed by the planning commission? Of the functions which need to continue to be performed, which should be retained in the new institution and which can be located in other existing bodies? Explain with reasons. (200 words)
Ans : planning commission is an extra constitutional institution entrusted with certain functions .
these are
– prepare the plan document
– allocate the funds between centre and states and also to central ministries
– appraisal of central ministries expenditure
– mediating between centre and states and also central ministries
– provide independent opinion to proposals of central ministries
– monitor central government schemes
on 67 th independence day speech PM Modi announced replacement of planning commission with a new institution which would provide solutions and innovations in addition to giving states more powers .
the core function of this new institution must be vision cum strategy role .
mediation functions performed by planning commission should remain with this new body .
reason for this being that this function requires economy wide perspective which is hard to find in any other existing institution .
appraisal and monitoring function can be located elsewhere
deptt of expenditure in MOF deals with the approval of proposed expenditure of the government . here a new unit can be established for appraisal function .
monitoring is done primarily by individual ministries and arm length monitoring by planning commission .
this function can be handed over to either the cabinet secretariat because of its status that it can override ministries or handed over to deptt of expenditure as they have direct locus standi.
allocation function can be kept as such or tweaked a bit by making MOF appellate allocator .
reason for not making MOF principal allocator is conflict of interest and no checks and balances .
Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was the high time for a possibility of direct confrontation between USA and Soviet Union as a result of long drawn Cold War Environment since 1945.
Due to face off between USSR and USA on ideological differences led to formation of two blocks . USA because of its advanced technological capability and development of missile technology deployed its missile at various bases of its capitalist allies in Western Europe along the borders of USSR. Threatened by the attack and disadvantage to its position,USSR tried all its best to find out best possible strategic location to stand at equal footing. Cuba provided that opportunity when it allowed its ally to deploy nuclear missiles which provided USSR an edge over USA,to keep a check at the time of any face off. This was the time for serious crisis for USA as for the first time its territory was under direct threat from a beleaguered nation. They tried to do what all they could do,by making a blockade at pacific ocean for movement of USSR ships. Navies of both nations were at loggerheads at the point which could turn the era of Cold War to full scale war between two powerful nations.
Thanks to the statesmanship of President of both nations,agreement reached upon to lift away the missiles from the borders and negotiations for disarmament started. This avoided world to see a full wage war which could have resulted into vast scale destruction and loss of lives of thousands of innocent people effecting economy and world peace developed after World War 2.
The Cuban missile crisis had all potentials to explode into a full scale nuclear war. Trace the historical circumstances which led to Cuban Crisis. How did the crisis end
Ans
After the Second World War, two blocks had emerged in the world; one headed by USA and the other under USSR. The Cuban missile crisis represents the closest these two powers came to a confrontation-
– Under the increased polarisation, a communist revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrew the USA backed capitalist government in Cuba in 1959.
– The existence of a communist nation so close to USA was perceived as a threat and USA raised an army of Cubans in exile to create a counter-revolution (bay of pigs invasion) in 1961.
– The counter-revolution was crushed by this caused insecurities in Communist Cuba and USSR.
– For the protection of Cuba, USSR placed nuclear silos in the Caribbean island nation.
– In Oct 1962, the missiles were identified from images of a surveillance plane and caused an uproar in USA.
– This led to a naval blockade of Cuba by USA and a call for dismantling of all nuclear sites and their return to USSR.
It ended with hectic negotiations between the two superpowers-
– After the negotiations, USA agreed to not invade Cuba and remove its missile sites from Turkey and Italy and USSR agreed to remove the missiles form USA.
– Also a hotline was created between Washington DC and Moscow which helped avoiding escalations of issues.
GS 2 Paper: [Indian Diaspora] – Why Diaspora is special to India? List out the recent announcements made by Prime Minister with regarding Indian diaspora in his visit to US. (200 words)
The Indian Diaspora is a term to describe the people who migrated from territories that are currently within the borders of the Republic of India and their descendants. The Diaspora is special to India because:
– Diaspora is significant resource for the development of the country of origin
– The movement of the high skilled and low skilled workers from less to more developed economies and back opens several new opportunities for development.
– financial contributions to the home country
– important bridge to access knowledge, expertise, resources and markets for the development of India
– engagement of diaspora in mutually rewarding manner across the economic, social and cultural space
The recent announcements made by Prime Minister with regarding Indian diaspora in his visit to US are:
– measures to ease travel to their motherland including life-long visas.
– PIO staying in India for long would not have to report to police
– the PIO and OCI schemes will be combined in a new scheme and will also cover spouses.
– Modi invited Indian diaspora for Pravasi Bhartiya Divas that will be held in Ahmedabad next year
India seeks to become a global player of significance and the time has come for a strong and sustained engagement between India and overseas Indians.
Why Diaspora is special to India? List out the recent announcements made by Prime Minister with regarding Indian diaspora in his visit to US. (200 words)
Ans
India has a diverse and widespread diaspora. It is important due to following reasons-
1) Source of foreign exchange. India has the largest remittance in the world helping it manage the balance of payment.
2) Active ambassadors of India. India is considered a soft power due to amity its diaspora has created world over.
3) Investment back to India. The diaspora is responsible for a lot of monetary and technological investment in India. IT and BPO boom was largely driven by the diaspora initially.
4) Lobbyists for India. The diaspora has caused a lot of countries to have a positive foreign relation with India.
5) They have excelled in a number of fields bringing Prestige to nation. Ex. Kalpana Chalwa, Bobby Jindal, Hinduja Brothers etc.
6) Strategic and political advantage. Countries with large Indian Diaspora like Mauritius, Fiji and Guyana have often backed India in International stage.
In the recent trip to USA, our PM announced to the Indians there-
1) PIO card holders will have lifelong visa to India.
2) Merging of PIO and OCI card schemes.
3) They will not have to register to police station every 6 months on their stay in India.
GS 4 Paper: [Values] Distinguish between values and ethics. What are the values that can be learned from the life of (a) Swami Vivekananda (b) Mother Theresa. (200 words)
Difference between values and ethics:
1.Values are the basic beliefs that an individual thinks to be true.
Ethics is guidelines or rules that are set for a society or an organization rather than for an individual.
2. Values can be said to be the guiding principles in one’s life by which individual takes decision regarding right or wrong
Ethics are set of rules formulated by institutions or society and mainly based on rights, virtues and obligations.
3. Typical values include honesty, integrity, compassion, courage
Ethics is to refrain from crime, killings.
Swami Vivekananda taught self-respect and equality. Possessing extreme knowledge and will power, he was an example of leadership and charity. He did public service as an ascetic. He promote peace and human brotherhood.He upholded his ideals and walked on path of truth. He worked to promote education and empowerment. He was pragmatic and a reformer,motivator.
Mother Teresa was kind, quiet and had great courage. She was a very open-minded person and open to change.She had the ability to explore new ideas.She had empathy, compassion, and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. She kept smiling even in adverse situations.She never ever cared for her own conveniences and asked people to start the service from home.
thank u for the review
Appreciate the effort! Go through this reference too : http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/1TtoXbfiiSODlCFWXQxQoN/Planning-Commissions-replacement-must-lay-out-vision-with-s.html
Alpa, The definition of values and ethics and ethics are not convincing enough. The second part is OK. Self respect and brotherhood related to Vivekananda – good points.
Avi…Good. Keep it up!
JP…Good. Keep writing.
GS 2 Paper:
The usage of the word “diaspora ” simply meaning ‘voluntary migration’ garners relevance in contemporary times from the point of view of India primarily because at present a large proportion (almost 25 million) of skilled Indian expatriates reside abroad. They are of significance as they can contribute to India’s economic growth by residing outside of India or if given proper working atmosphere by returning to India and aid in its overall development. Thereby, the recent governments initiative where it has attempted to resolve their varied set of problems for them has won appraisals from all corners.
These announcements were made at a symbolic get together at Maddison square surrounded by chants of bharat mata ki jai. The dynamic PM announced that they would soon merge the OCI and PIO schemes . Also for PIO’s , visa and travel norms would be eased including lifetime visa for them. Moreover ,PIO’s staying in India for a longer duration would no longer have to report to the police stations. Further, a new scheme for American tourist regarding visa on arrival was on its way.
Perhaps ,it seemed that for this time around it was for the Indian diaspora for whom acche din aagaye hain.
Chaudhary, though you have touched some of the relevant points, please refrain from the newspaper style in UPSC mains answers. Eg: dynamic PM, acche din aagaye hain etc.
thanku for review .
Sir reply to my answer
Thank-you for the feedback . The styling of answer writing shall be changed in the upcoming attempts.