{"id":16686,"date":"2018-03-08T13:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T07:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=16686"},"modified":"2018-03-06T16:13:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T10:43:14","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-march-7-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-march-7-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 March 7, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.1) A recent report from the NITI Aayog highlighted that sex ratio at birth (SRB) nationwide had dropped .In this context discuss the factors responsible for declining sex ratio. What are the wider implications of skewed sex ratio in India? \u00a0Suggest some measures to tackle this menace.(GS 1)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent report from the NITI Aayog highlighted sex ratio at birth (SRB) nationwide had dropped from 906 in 2012-2014 to 900 in 2013-2015. \u00a0In all, 17 of 21 large Indian States saw a drop in the SRB, with Gujarat performing the worst, declining 53 points. Also, newer data from India\u2019s Sample Registration System show the SRB fell even further in 2014-2016, from 900 to 898.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Factors responsible \u00a0for Declining Sex Ratio:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are multiple trends in declining the sex ratio. Some of the factors are given below:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Pre Natal Sex Determination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the main reason of low sex ratio in India<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Patriarchal societies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in many parts of India have translated their prejudice and bigotry into a compulsive preference for boys and discriminations against the girl child.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women work is always socially devalued with limited autonomy in decision making. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dowry is the main cause of low sex ratio. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Implications of skewed sex ratio in India<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Low Sex ratio at birth has led to large numbers of \u201csurplus men\u201d in countries like India and China.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skewed sex ratio lead to more violence against men and women, as well as human trafficking.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India, some villages in Haryana and Punjab have such poor ratios that men \u201cimport\u201d brides from other states. This is often accompanied by the exploitation of these brides.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Suggestive measures:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strict implementation of laws banning female foeticide and dowry<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">providing old age pension for parents who had no son<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> free and compulsory education for girls<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Job reservation for women in specific occupations and giving them an equal share in the property, in the true sense of the word.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Efforts should be made to implement these laws effectively.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">S<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trict punishment should be given to the defaulters.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vulnerable minds of the children should be so influenced that they grow up as adults who consider practicing dowry and female foeticide as immoral.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women should also be socialized from early childhood to consider themselves as equal to men. This would be a positive influence on the coming generations as today\u2019s girl child would be tomorrow\u2019s mother as well as mother in-law.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No nation, society or community can hold its head high and claim to be the part of civilized world if it condones the practice of discrimination against women. In the light of this statement discuss the reasons for prevalence of gender inequality in India. Why there is need for gender equality? (GS 1)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No nation, society or community can hold its head high and claim to be the part of civilized world if it condones the practice of discrimination against women. The reason why there is need for gender equality is discussed below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Reasons for gender inequality in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Cultural institutions:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cultural institutions in India, particularly those of patrilineality (inheritance through male descendants) and patrilocality (married couples living with or near the husband\u2019s parents), play a crucial role in perpetuating gender inequality.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Preference for sons:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A culturally ingrained parental preference for sons \u2013 emanating from their importance as caregivers for parents in old age \u2013 is linked to poorer consequences for daughters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Dowry system:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The dowry system, involving a cash or in-kind payment from the bride\u2019s family to the groom\u2019s at the time of marriage, is another institution that disempowers women.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The incidence of dowry has been steadily rising over time across all region and socioeconomic classes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Patriarchal mindset:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patriarchy is a social system of privilege in which men are the primary authority figures, occupying roles of political leadership, moral authority, control of prosperity and authority over women and children.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Poverty and lack of education:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extreme poverty and lack of education are also some of the reasons for women\u2019s low status in society.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poverty and lack of education derives countless women to work in low paying domestic service, organized prostitution or as migrant laborers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Need for gender equality:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Greater gender equality can enhance productivity, improve development outcomes for the next generation, and make institutions more representative.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Empowering women as economic, political, and social actors can change policy choices and make institutions more representative of a range of voices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India, giving power to women at the local level led to increases in the provision of public goods, such as water and sanitation, which mattered more to women.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indians across the country, bridging class and caste divides, are deliberately ensuring that girls are simply not born. This artificial alteration of our demographic landscape has implications for not only gender justice and equality but also social violence, human development and democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to conservation group WWF India, climate change has resulted in substantial decrease in India\u2019s coral cover and growth n the last two decades. In this context discuss the factors lead to decrease in coral cover in India. \u00a0What should be done for the protection of coral reefs?(GS 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to conservation group WWF India, climate change has resulted in substantial decrease in India\u2019s coral cover and growth n the last two decades. Coral diversity and formation of reefs are centred around the following four major regions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gulf of Kutch<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lakshadweep atolls<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gulf of Mannar<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Andaman and Nicobar Islands<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides these hotspots, patchy reefs are present in other coastal regions, from the coast of Goa and parts of the Malvan marine national park to the Kanyakumari district in southern Tamil Nadu.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Factors lead to decrease in coral cover in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Climate change is the primary factor, with multiple bleaching events occurring in the last two decades, resulting in substantial reductions to coral cover and growth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increase atmospheric carbon dioxide have decreased the pH of oceans and resulting in ocean acidification, which seriously hinder the reef building capacity of corals<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other factors include:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overfishing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unregulated coastal development<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nutrient, Heavy metal and chemical pollution<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What should be done for the protection of coral reefs?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WWF India has stressed the need for formulating a \u201cholistic\u201d approach for their protection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has said the connectivity of India\u2019s freshwater, coastal, offshore and marine systems must be taken into account when conserving such (corals) habitats and the management regimes must reflect this.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One management technique is to create Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that directly limit human activities such as fishing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives Q.1) A recent report from the NITI Aayog highlighted that sex ratio at birth (SRB) nationwide had dropped .In this context discuss the factors responsible for declining sex ratio. What are the wider implications of skewed sex ratio in India? \u00a0Suggest some measures to tackle this menace.(GS 1) A recent report from the NITI&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-march-7-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 March 7, 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-16686","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":1704773683},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16686","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=16686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16686\/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=16686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}