{"id":12938,"date":"2017-12-08T14:26:41","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T08:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=12938"},"modified":"2017-12-04T14:28:12","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T08:58:12","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-december-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-december-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 December 7"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.1) Examine why sanitation programmes in India fails to achieve their purpose and discuss the substantial measures for the same. (GS-1)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sanitation is intrinsically linked to health.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is thus important to formulate and implement concrete plans in<\/span><b> Wastewater and Faecal Sludge Management.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Reasons for failure of sanitation campaigns in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The implementation of was far from perfect, both in terms of the <\/span><b>levels of coverage achieved and the levels of utilization<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Out of 63% increase in toilet coverage, only 38% of the households had a functional toilet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Government\u2019s rural sanitation programme, implemented by NGOs and community-based organisations, was unable to <\/span><b>reduce exposure to faecal matter<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result, this sanitation programme had no impact on the reduction of diarrhoea and malnutrition cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of the campaigns are still <\/span><b>struggling in bringing behavioral changes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in rural population.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of the money is going towards latrine construction, and <\/span><b>very little towards information, education, and communication<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The allocation of central government budgetary allocation for health sector out of the total budget remains stagnant <\/span><b>at only 1.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has managed to connect <\/span><b>only a little more than a third of its urban households, most of which are located in metropolitan cities, to sewerage systems.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Water and sanitation are taken as <\/span><b>independent activities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore in the 12th Plan, a need has been identified for integration of housing, water and sanitation needs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Measures to be taken:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The measure to be taken in the context of sanitation, are as follows:<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sanitation programmes need to <\/span><b>increase both the coverage and use of toilets, as well as improved hygienic practices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Political will and commitment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is also required urgently to tackle the crisis of sanitation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Unless faecal waste is treated properly and disposed of safely<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it will find its way back into our bodies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Urban local bodies and State governments could ensure that the larger containment systems such as <\/span><b>community toilets and public toilets are properly constructed and managed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Permission could be granted to new buildings, especially large apartment complexes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> only when the applicants show proper septage construction designs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The safety of sanitary workers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who clean tanks and pits must be ensured by enforcing occupational safety precautions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a need to <\/span><b>ensure inclusion, recognising the importance of safe and accessible toilets specific to the needs of the differently-abled, the elderly, the poorest, as well as women and adolescent girls.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) India has jumped up to rank 100 in Ease of Doing Business 2018 report in comparison to report of 2017. In this context, discuss the factors behind this achievement and the areas, where India need to improve. (GS-2) \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year\u2019s report from the World Bank ranks India at 100 among 190 countries. Last year, India was ranked 130.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s upward jump in ranking is <\/span><b>based on the underlying improvement in the distance to frontier (DTF) score<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 an absolute measure of progress towards the best practice-in the report.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India recorded <\/span><b>the fifth highest change in DTF score<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and found a place for the first time in the top ten economies improving the most in a given year, in the report which is into its 15th edition.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ease of doing business ranking compares economies with one another; the DTF score benchmark economies with respect to regulatory best practice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to an output-outcome framework document prepared by the government, <\/span><b>India is seeking to reach the 90th rank in 2017-18 and 30th by 2020.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Factors behind the achievement:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The introduction of the <\/span><b>new insolvency and bankruptcy resolution process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Simplifications in the payment of statutory <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dues such as provident fund contributions and corporate taxes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There has been an <\/span><b>easier access to credit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing Business report measures aspects of regulation affecting 11 areas of the life of a business, and I<\/span><b>ndia made eight reforms across these areas last yea<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">r, the highest number for the country in a single year.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is one of the three countries last year that u<\/span><b>ndertook reforms in as many as eight areas<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Loopholes in the ease of doing business in the context of India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India\u2019s case, the business environment in <\/span><b>only Delhi and Mumbai are used to compile the national ranking.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These rankings also focus a lot more on the <\/span><b>laws and rules that are on the books and do not necessarily capture the daily experiences of businesses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The World Bank said while there has been substantial progress, India still lags in areas such as <\/span><b>starting a business (156), enforcing contracts (164) and dealing with construction permits (181).<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Larger challenges<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>enforcement of contracts<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> now takes longer than it did 15 years ago.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>procedures to start a business<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><b>secure a construction permit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> remain cumbersome.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Mumbai and Delhi cannot<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> host the kind of <\/span><b>large factories<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that India needs to generate adequate employment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is critical to have <\/span><b>procedural reforms reach the surroundings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and a <\/span><b>road map be drafted for the larger legislative changes <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">needed in matters such as <\/span><b>land acquisition.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While foreign investors are important, the importance of <\/span><b>domestic businesses cannot be ignored<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Distance to Frontier<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The distance to frontier score helps assess the absolute level of regulatory performance overtime.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It measures the distance of each economy to the \u201cfrontier\u201d, which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across the economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An economy\u2019s distance t frontier is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where o represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government initiated an online single window clearance system for <\/span><b>faster approvals of building plans.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will presumably lead to obtaining building permits faster<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Government should not be obsessed about this Index although all other BRICS nations are ahead of India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It should go ahead and keep on doing what it thinks is necessary for <\/span><b>betterment of small and medium enterprises in coordination with the state governments.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, setting a national target of attaining a certain rank has also helped in bringing consensus across other parties involved like state governments and judiciary to improve overall environment of India in doing business.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lot of the parameters on which our rankings are poor are the ones where the processes are yet to be modernized.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3) Present a brief account of the issue of \u2018Greater Nagaland\u2019 or Nagalism. In your opinion, what would the consequences if demand for Nagalism is fulfilled by government? (GS-2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has been ages since <\/span><b>the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) has been fighting for \u2018Greater Nagaland\u2019 or Nagalism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It wants to <\/span><b>extend Nagaland\u2019s borders by including Naga-dominated areas in neighbouring Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to unite 1.2 million Nagas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the three states that have Naga populations <\/span><b>have refused to part with even an inch of land.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this context, the Centre is engaged in <\/span><b>peace talks with NSCN (IM) for last the 22 years and in 2015, a \u2018Framework Agreement\u2019 was signed.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most recently, the centre brought <\/span><b>six other insurgent groups of Nagaland on board for the peace process in September, 2017<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to find an all-inclusive lasting solution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre <\/span><b>is likely to announce the peace agreement with NSCN (IM) and six other groups either before Christmas or assembly election due in February.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The map of \u2018Greater Nagaland\u2019 or Nagalim:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The map of Greater Nagalim comprising \u201call Naga-inhabited areas\u201d shows a 1,20,000sq km sprawl <\/span><b>across the Northeast and Myanmar.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It covers a sizeable portion of:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assam\u2019s Tinsukia, Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, KarbiAnglong and Dima Hasao districts;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all of Longding, Tirap, Changlang, Lohit and Namsai districts in Arunachal; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">large parts of Manipur\u2019s Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel and Tamenglong districts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The area of Nagaland state is only 16,527 sq km, a fraction of the NSCN(IM)\u2019s \u201cGreater Nagalim\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Consequences of geographical integration:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will bring many <\/span><b>unwanted incidents and may result in communal clash<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the State.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There will be <\/span><b>hurdles in advancing many projects and schemes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including the power sub-stations at ElangKhangpokpi and Chandel.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There will be <\/span><b>loss of national unity and integrity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The approval will <\/span><b>encourage other states of the country to demand<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> geographical integration.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way ahead:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The country needs to be <\/span><b>integrated culturally, emotionally and socially,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which does not affect anybody.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any <\/span><b>solution to end the Naga insurgency should not be confined to Nagaland state only<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> instead it should take into account the arguments put forward by the other states.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre <\/span><b>should not try to \u201csettle\u201d a particular community<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as the border state (Manipur) is inhabited by more than 30 different ethnic groups and is not a domain of one community.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives\u00a0 Q.1) Examine why sanitation programmes in India fails to achieve their purpose and discuss the substantial measures for the same. (GS-1) Introduction: Sanitation is intrinsically linked to health. It is thus important to formulate and implement concrete plans in Wastewater and Faecal Sludge Management. Reasons for failure of sanitation campaigns in India: The implementation&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-december-7\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 December 7<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pen-paper-laptop.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704940553},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}