Answers: Mains Marathon – UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions – February 20, 2019

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Q.1) India Afghanistan policy needs urgent reconsideration as major power today directly engage with Taliban and credibility of the Kabul government at an all-time low. Analyze

Answer:

Why India should be a party?

  1. India has huge stakes in the security of Afghanistan
  2. India invested hugely in infrastructure creation within Afghanistan
  3. The role of Chabahar port to give access to Afghanistan and Central Asian countries is linked to Afghanistan
  4. India wants to assume the role of leadership within South Asia

What India can do?

  1. Mobilise public opinion in Afghanistan because our biggest asset is the goodwill India has in the Afghan mind
  2. We must engage Afghanistan through SAARC and evolve a policy for post-U.S. pullout
  3. Once the Taliban agrees to speak to other groups in Afghanistan, India should be willing to host a Jirga (grand council meet)
  4. any dialogue with the Taliban must not come at the cost of the hard-fought victories of the Afghan people in the past two decades: on establishing constitutional democracy and the rule of law, and securing the rights of women and minorities
  5. India cannot replace Pakistan’s position geographically, nor can it ever offer the U.S. or any other force what Pakistan has offered in the past, including bases and permission for U.S. forces to bomb its own territory.
  6. India’s best course with Afghanistan remains its own regional strategy, not becoming a part of any other country’s strategy.
  7. Close bilateral consultations life the visit to Delhi of National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, are the basis of India’s ability to help Afghanistan according to its needs, not India’s ambitions, and the reason for the immense popularity and goodwill India continues to enjoy in Afghanistan.
  8. In Afghanistan, the decision to downsize troop presence comes at a moment when Washington has embarked on direct talks with the Taliban brokered by Pakistan.

 

Q.2) Elaborate the importance of temples in the history of India as a means to demonstrate the powers, wealth and devotion of the patrons. Also, highlight how temples regulated the economic and the social life of a common man.

Answer:

Temples were constructed not only because they were places of worship and devotion for the masses, they were also meant to demonstrate the power, wealth and devotion of the patron.

  1. For example in Rajarajeshwara temple, an inscription mentions that it was built by King Rajarajadeva for the worship of his god. The key feature here is to notice how the names of the ruler and the god are very similar.
  2. Kings wanted to emphasise their moral right to be rulers. Constructing temples facilitated this by giving them a chance to proclaim their closeness with God.
  3. Many rulers attempting to transform their capitals and cities into great cultural centres that brought fame to their rule and realm.
  4. Religious structures of enemy kingdoms used to get destroyed as a belief of destruction of their powers, after conquering them. For ex Pandyan king Shrimara Shrivallabha invaded Sri Lanka and defeated the Jewel Palace. He then proceeded to destroy monasteries.
  5. Larger temples were built by kings while smaller ones by nobles, which equates the status with size of temples.
  6. Some of the exclusive places in temples demonstrated powers of rulers. For ex The Khajuraho complex contained royal temples where commoners were not allowed entry. The temples were decorated with elaborately carved sculptures.
  7. Rulers used to demonstrate their wealth by heavy ornamentation, use of gold and other precious metals in building temples.
  8. The temple was a miniature model of the world ruled by the kings and his allies; when they worshipped their deities in the royal temples it was as if the just rule of gods were brought on earth.
  9. In the early eleventh century, when the Chola king Rajendra I built a Shiva temple in his capital he filled it with prized statues seized from defeated rulers.

Economic and social life:

  1. the temple was a total work of art in which we have not only sculptures and painting, but music, dancing and theatrical performance, making it a true civic centre for artistic and cultural activities
  2. Many towns developed around the temples as they are hubs of business to cater to the pilgrims visiting the places.
  3. Temples also encouraged the spread of education Larger temples would maintain Vidya mandapams where efficient teachers were employed and free board and lodging was provided to students.
  4. Land distribution and control through temples represented by brahmadeyas and temple-nucleated
    settlements.
  5. Temples were used as major channel of socio-political communication, conveyed the royal orders
    through inscriptions.

 

Q.3) What is 5G technology? What are the benefits and challenges to adapt to 5G?

Answer:

5G is the latest generation of cellular mobile communications. It succeeds the 4G, 3G and 2G systems. 5G performance targets high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity, and massive device connectivity.

Benefits:

  1. High resolution and bi-directional large bandwidth shaping
  2. Technology to gather all networks on one platform.
  3. More effective and efficient.
  4. Most likely, will provide a huge broadcasting data (in Gigabit), which will support more than 60,000 connections.
  5. Easily manageable with the previous generations.
  6. Technologically sound to support heterogeneous services
  7. Possible to provide uniform, uninterrupted, and consistent connectivity across the world
  8. Facilitates provision of many essential services to the remote corners of world

Challenges:

  1. Technology is still under process and research on its viability is going on.
  2. The speed, this technology is claiming seems difficult to achieve (in future, it might be) because of the incompetent technological support in most parts of the world.
  3. Many of the old devices would not be competent to 5G, hence, all of them need to be replaced with new one.
  4. Developing infrastructure needs high cost.
  5. Security and privacy issue yet to be solved.

 

Q.4) What do you mean by emotional intelligence? Explain the importance of emotional intelligence at the workplace?

Answer:

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.

Importance of EI:

  1. Emotional intelligence can lead to better decisions
  2. Emotionally intelligent employees are more likely to keep their cool under pressure and act efficiently
  3. Those with high EQ are better at resolving conflicts
  4. Emotionally intelligent leaders tend to have greater empathy
  5. Employees with high EQs are more likely to listen, reflect, and respond to constructive criticism
  6. It creates conducive work culture and environment for outcomes
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