{"id":18436,"date":"2018-04-11T13:11:34","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T07:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=18436"},"modified":"2018-04-10T11:11:52","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T05:41:52","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-10-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-10-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 April 10, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q1) Beside focusing on Research and Development (R&amp;D) spending, what do you think are the other courses of action to be taken in order to forge a culture of innovation in India? (GS \u2013 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s innovation policy has to shift beyond a mere focus on R&amp;D spending to transforming the ecosystem.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Courses of action to be taken in order to forge a culture of innovation in India are:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A focus on building an <\/span><b>innovation culture<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is necessary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our innovation policy has to shift beyond a focus on increasing R&amp;D spending to inculcating a mindset of <\/span><b>out-of-the-box<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> thinking in our universities, start-ups and corporates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s <\/span><b>educational policies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> need to be redesigned, with a focus on building cognitive abilities, beyond rote learning and focus on quantitative subjects<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Need to focus on taking advantage of the <\/span><b>data analytics boom<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, improving educational qualities beyond our existing islands of excellence to the whole university system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A supporting ecosystem for this will require providing greater <\/span><b>access to public data,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through the Right to Information Act.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also a push in providing <\/span><b>public data <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(for example, on train punctuality, water scarcity, air pollution metrics) for building innovative applications on a real-time basis is much needed. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a nation whose public debate is often given to recalling innovations in our historical and mythological past, the future state of India\u2019s R&amp;D activities demands significant attention.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) \u201cBy introducing a major shift in staple diets of many, India has the potential to reduce micronutrient deficiencies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d Justify the statement. (GS \u2013 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As suggested by a study, \u2018Healthy, affordable and climate-friendly diets in India\u2019, shift to wheat, millets and maize from polished rice, to chicken and legumes from beef and eggs, along with leafy vegetables and coconut could reduce India\u2019s micronutrient deficiencies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Findings of the study are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly three-quarters of Indians consume less than the ideal number of <\/span><b>calories<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a day, and more than half have protein deficiency.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>deficiencies of micronutrients<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were more prevalent: nearly nine in 10 Indians are iron-deficient, 85% do not meet the required intake of vitamin A, and two-thirds have zinc deficiency.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Cost <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was clearly a concern as deficiencies were found to decrease as household incomes increased.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surprisingly though, <\/span><b>urban households<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had increased deficiencies compared to their rural counterparts (apart from vitamin A), which the researchers attribute to greater diversity of <\/span><b>cereals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>rice-based diets <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of south and east India make the people in these areas more vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies than people elsewhere.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While those above the poverty line can make up for this <\/span><b>nutritional inadequacy <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">without their food budgets being affected much, nearly 160 million people below the poverty line cannot without exceeding their food budgets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Solutions proposed in the study are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers suggest that the required micronutrients can be met by reducing the intake of rice (from 61% to around 40% of calorie share) and meat (expensive and with high greenhouse gas emissions) and replacing them with coarse cereals such as bajra and ragi, along with legumes, dark, leafy vegetables, and coconut.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These dietary changes could also reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in India by up to 25%.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3) Write short notes on:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>a)\u00a0 \u2018Veblen good\u2019 in economics (GS &#8211; 3)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Veblen goods is a good for which demand increases when its price increases, and vice versa.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luxury goods like diamonds, whose appeal depends on their exorbitant price, are an example.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is named after American economist Thorstein Veblen.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Significance:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Veblen goods are considered exceptions to the law of demand, which states that the demand for a good must decrease as its price increases, and vice versa.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some economists disagree, saying that the law applies only to goods that are truly identical.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheap diamonds, for instance, may be an inferior good in the eyes of the consumer when compared to expensive diamonds; hence they are not truly comparable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>b)\u00a0 \u2018Paradox of aid\u2019 in economics (GS &#8211; 3)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Paradox of aid\u2019 \u00a0refers to the paradoxical situation wherein countries that are blessed with good institutions to achieve economic growth have no need for foreign aid.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While countries that possess poor institutions that inhibit their growth do not benefit from any amount of foreign aid.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was proposed by British development economist Peter Thomas Bauer in his 1971 book, Dissent on Development. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Significance:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The paradox of aid emphasises the importance of good institutions to achieve better economic conditions in the developing world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, the ineffectiveness of foreign aid to achieve a substantial improvement in living standards in the absence of the right institutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives Q1) Beside focusing on Research and Development (R&amp;D) spending, what do you think are the other courses of action to be taken in order to forge a culture of innovation in India? (GS \u2013 3) Introduction: India\u2019s innovation policy has to shift beyond a mere focus on R&amp;D spending to transforming the ecosystem. Courses&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-10-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 April 10, 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-18436","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":1704829365},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18436","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=18436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18436\/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=18436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}