{"id":15954,"date":"2018-02-17T12:49:53","date_gmt":"2018-02-17T07:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=15954"},"modified":"2018-02-17T11:50:48","modified_gmt":"2018-02-17T06:20:48","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-16-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-16-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 February 16, 2018"},"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)India targets to achieve an all-electric-fleet of vehicles by 2030. How important is it for the nation to shift to an all-electric-fleet of vehicles by 2030? Do you think this absolute shift is feasible in the context of a developing country as India? Discuss (GS\u20133)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India wants only electric vehicles to run on its roads by 2030, but it\u2019s a path riddled with challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How important is it for the nation to shift to an all-electric-fleet of vehicles by 2030?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is an array of benefits if the nation shifts from petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles. Some of them are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Reduce India\u2019s oil dependency:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shift from petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles will <\/span><b>reduce India\u2019s dependence on oil and the cost of import.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Strengthen the rupee:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will <\/span><b>strengthen the rupee and the current account deficit would disappear<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Address the issues of climate change:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>air will be cleaner <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and will be an <\/span><b>end-to-end solution to address the issues of climate change.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Job creation:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Government will help establish charging stations to start with and later through franchisee model, <\/span><b>create jobs for lakhs of entrepreneurs <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to establish charging stations across the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Cheaper in price:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>electric vehicles will be cheaper <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>the operating costs will also reduce,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which will be an economic incentive for the public to buy the same.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the challenges in achieving the all-electric-fleet of vehicles by 2030 mission?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The challenges in achieving the all-electric fleet of vehicles by 2030 mission are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Very few global carmakers:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>very few global carmakers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have brought their electric variants into India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Distinction between Electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles\u2019 tax regime:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fact that the government has also made a <\/span><b>distinction between EVs and hybrid vehicles<\/b> <b>under the GST regime<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is seen as a problem.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>People are still skeptical about charge duration:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The view among carmakers is that <\/span><b>people are still<\/b> <b>skeptical about the shift to all-electric vehicles<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> since they fear the charge duration of the batteries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Battery technology:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Battery technology<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is yet another aspect that needs to be looked into.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Capacity of battery cells has not changed:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the cost of batteries has fallen over the years \u2014 a Bank of America Merill Lynch report found the <\/span><b>cost of battery cells fell 48% between 2011 and 2015 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">but their <\/span><b>capacity has not changed as drastically.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Sheer shift is not efficient address the impact on the environment:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet another issue is that <\/span><b>simply shifting the fleet to electric will not address the impact on the environment.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This has to be accompanied with an <\/span><b>even swifter change in the energy mix to renewable sources.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) What do you mean by contract farming? Do you think that the provisions of contract farming are appropriate for an agrarian country like India.(GS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What is Contract farming?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The contract farming allows <\/span><b>buyers and sellers to transact without routing through mandis.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under contract farming, farmers can be given seeds, credit, fertilizers, machinery and technical advice so that their produce is<\/span><b> tailor made for the requirements of the companies.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There would be <\/span><b>no middlemen involve<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">d and farmers would get a<\/span><b> predetermined sale price from the companies.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Are the provisions of contract farming appropriate for an agrarian country like India?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though there are some loopholes, the provisions of contract farming are appropriate for an agrarian country like India. The advantages and disadvantages of contract farming are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Advantages of Contract farming:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The advantages of Contract farming are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The farmers get the <\/span><b>high remunerative price for their farm product.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The farm grower benefit from the <\/span><b>agro extension program of the agro processor.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The wastage of the farm produces now between 35 and 40 percent l<\/span><b>argely eliminated as the farm processing factory situated next to cluster of farms.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It promotes <\/span><b>best agri practices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from different parts of the worlds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will <\/span><b>free farmer from middlemen and money lenders.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers<\/span><b> income security <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">through guaranteed price and <\/span><b>access to quality inputs.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Encourages new generation t<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o take farming as <\/span><b>new business venture<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> instead of migrating to cities for search of jobs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Problems related with Contract farming in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Very small and marginal farmers may not be roped<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in for this form of farming because companies may want a particular size of the crop which small farmers with their small parcels of land may not be able to produce.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>medium size farmer may not be literate enough<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to understand the nitty gritty of the contract and all the clauses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The farmer may be forced to produce only tomatoes or onions year after year which will<\/span><b> lead to monoculture.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Predetermined prices <\/span><b>do not take care of food inflation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In case if there is a price rise of the product, the farmer <\/span><b>cannot take advantage and make a windfall profit <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">because he is under contract to sell at the price agreed upon beforehand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The average farmer being poor and semi-literate <\/span><b>has little bargaining power <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vis-\u00e0-vis big corporations and hence there is little chance of his getting a fair price for his produce.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The corporate sector takes over our agricultural operations which<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">may <\/span><b>affect the food security of the country.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contract farming is best suited to special types of crops and <\/span><b>not all farming activities.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3)Write short notes on the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a) Lucky latitudes in Geography (GS-1) <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Lucky latitudes refers to the geographical regions where the <\/span><b>practice of domestication of wild plants and animals began to happen for the first time in human history.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It includes land that lies between the<\/span><b> latitudes of 20 and 35 degrees north in the Old World, and 15 degrees south and 20 degrees north in the Americas.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These regions became more favourable to the <\/span><b>rise of civilisation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when the rise in earth\u2019s temperature ended the last <\/span><b>Ice Age around 12,000 years ago.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consequently, people located in these geographic regions gained a <\/span><b>headstart over the rest of the world.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The term was coined by Ian Morris in his book <\/span><b>Why the West Rules \u2014 For Now.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">b) Cobweb cycle in economics (GS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cobweb cycle refers to a phenomenon where the <\/span><b>prices of certain goods witness fluctuations that are cyclical in nature.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It happens due to <\/span><b>faulty producer expectations.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The producers of agricultural goods, for instance, might decide to<\/span><b> increase their output one year <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">because their product commanded <\/span><b>a very high price the previous year.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This, however, might lead to <\/span><b>overproduction and cause prices to slump that year,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> thus leading to losses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such cyclical price fluctuations are <\/span><b>more severe in markets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where speculators are banned from <\/span><b>hoarding goods to sell them later at a higher price.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idea was proposed by <\/span><b>Hungarian economist Nicholas Kaldor.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">c) \u2018<\/span><b>Dutch sandwich<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 in economics (GS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dutch sandwich<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">refers to a <\/span><b>form of tax avoidance used by companies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that have their operations across the world to minimise the amount of taxes that they pay on their profits.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The technique involves the <\/span><b>transfer of a company\u2019s profits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through a subsidiary in the Netherlands, where the <\/span><b>tax on the transfer of corporate profits is low compared to other countries.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tech giants like <\/span><b>Google, Facebook and Apple <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are the most<\/span><b> notable companies <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that manage to pay low taxes on their profits by using the various intricacies of tax laws across countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives\u00a0 Q.1)India targets to achieve an all-electric-fleet of vehicles by 2030. How important is it for the nation to shift to an all-electric-fleet of vehicles by 2030? Do you think this absolute shift is feasible in the context of a developing country as India? Discuss (GS\u20133) Context: India wants only electric vehicles to run on&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-16-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 February 16, 2018<\/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-15954","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":1704882244},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15954","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=15954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15954\/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=15954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}