Answered: Mains Marathon – UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions – June 20

1. “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” Discuss.(GS 4)

• The reward most of the time comes in the form of greater opportunity as it wins the trust of people. This boosts moral and self-esteem.The confidence of others also get reinforced when the person has already worked hard.
• Leaders who took lead in freedom struggle, had confidence of people and were rewarded in the form of more opportunity in constituent assembly, interim government and then in first elected government.
• India was criticised by the international community for conducting nuclear tests once but got rewarded with more nuclear deals with many countries because of  the responsibility and maturity in showed in dealing with nuclear weapons.
• When an administrator of a district tries to achieve 100% literacy in a particular district and reaches the goal,He/she gains the confidence to continue the good work as satisfaction that one gets when worked for the greater good itself is the reward which pushed a human being forward.
• However there are instances which show that despite not being efficient people still are treated the same way as efficient people do like in government jobs performance is not the criteria for promotions and perks but experience is.This is detrimental to public interest and good governance.
• Also monetary rewards do help a person to some extent and providing position in leadership levels and providing greater role for the person in the organisation helps to maintain efficiency of the person.
• Therefore a very accomplished work will be remembered by mankind for centuries that is a reward in itself.
  

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2. “Terrorism is emerging as a competitive industry over the last few decades.” Analyse the above statement.(GS 1)

Introduction:-

• Terrorism refers to the unlawful use of violence in order to further the social, political or religious ideology of a group of people, referred to as terrorists.

It has several characteristics of a competitive industry as:

• The current competitive market in terrorism means that groups are trying to distinguish themselves from one another through more memorable violence. They need to do so because this is the only way in which they can be heard and become popular enough to attract recruits.
• Human Resource:
  • Competitive pay is offered to the fighters which is able to pull youth fight in terrorist organisations.
• Globalisation:
  • This process aided the terrorist activities due to flexibility in movement of people across borders.
• Nexus of criminals and terrorists:–
  • Terrorists need finances for their activities. So, criminals colluding with terroristS is emerging as a competitive industry. For example, credit card information theft, smuggling, drug trafficking and child trafficking.
• Due to Internet and social media, all terrorist activities like money transfer, recruitment, propaganda became easy without physical movement of people.
• Regional conflicts: Such conflicts are benefiting the terrorism. For example sunni-shia rivalry in west Asia, India-Pakistan rivalry in South Asia.
• Control over large tracts of land especially by ISIS .
• Marketing:
  • Social Media and Advertisements are key methods of radicalization. Terrorist organisations run their own news channels, Twitter handles and constantly update latest changes.
• Existence of hawala networks
• Support of governments to terrorists due to which they have corporatised their industry and made it competitive.
  • By state-sponsored funding (Hezbollah and Houthis by Iran, Syrian rebels by US and Saudi Arabia etc.) or by selling goods such as oil from the land controlled by them.
• Increased migration to Europe and East Asia causing imbalance

However despite the industry being competitive most of the people do not think it as  attractive as it is against the values and principles followed in the society,create violence etc..

Way forward:

• There is a need for the world to join hands and take concrete multilateral initiatives to ensure that terror groups are dealt with a heavy hand. Accepting and ratifying the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) proposed by India would be good first step
• By trying to educate youth and understanding their alienation the governments can strive to work towards deradicalisation,nab organised crime ,Implementing provisions of BEPS for throttling Hawala finance would make terrorism to be controlled effectively.
  

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3. “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples.(GS 1)

Introduction:-

• Deprivation is the consequence of a lack of income and other resources,which cumulatively can be seen as living in poverty.
• Poverty is a multifaceted reality. It is not simply a lack of  adequate income; It is a cruel mix of human deprivation in knowledge, health, dignity and rights, obstacles to participation and lack of voice.Therefore, comprehensive  transformational change is needed to address the root causes  of poverty.

Yes,liberating poor from deprivation reduces poverty:-

• Health:
  • Holistic healthcarefacilities will decrease mortality and morbidity which will lead to more productive workforce ensuring higher productivity and growth with greater  prosperity.Healthy mothers would produce healthy children and provide better learning outcomes and avenues to flourish.
  • Several developed and developing economies (such as UK and Cuba respectively) have state-sponsored universal healthcare.
• Nutrition:
  • Healthcare is intricately linked to Food security and awareness about healthy eating and balanced diet ensures that the people get enough macro and micronutrients that lead to proper overall development of body and mind, creating spill-over effects in other dimensions such as education.
• Provision of education
  • It opens up new opportunities for the people and enables them to get gainful employment in various fields. Skilling and vocational training is an essential component of education. India has the Right to Education as a Fundamental Right under Article 21A of its constitution.
• • Getting girls to school and raising the percentage of girl literacy and ensuring women empowerment.

• Liberating the poor from deprivation of knowledge :
  • By increasing awareness about common diseases, political awareness, and engendering behavioural change in matters such as sanitation, savings and exercising regularly will lead to better social indicators, eradication of poverty and a conscientious citizenry.
    “Nudge units”are being established by various governments in order to devise methods to bring about behavioural change.
• Assisting in water and sanitation improvement:-
  • Meanwhile, unsafe water and sanitation cause about 4,000 child deaths per day.
• Strategies to eradicate poverty require  not only economic growth and
  redistribution but also direct intervention  in many areas such as expanding  education, removing discrimination and  securing social injustice
• A major component of poverty eradication is economic growth. Reduction of inequality and redistribution of the fruits of growth is the work of the State and proper mechanisms for the same ensure that the poor get a share of the newly created wealth. The trickle-down effect ensures liberation from deprivation and gives adequate choices in all aspects to the poor.
• Skilling and education cannot aloneeradicate poverty without the presence of formal sector jobs in all the sectors of the economy. Formal sector jobs provide the people with the economic means necessary to live life with a decent standard of living.

Goal 1 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is “Ending poverty in all forms, everywhere”. However, this is not a standalone goal, since poverty is a result of deprivation, and can be eradicated only by removing that deprivation.Gender equality and women’s empowerment, democratic governance and support to transitions, prevention of crises and building back better, engagement in climate talks, adaptation and mitigation, and the elimination of stigma in HIV and AIDS are ways of fighting against poverty by another name.