{"id":18693,"date":"2018-04-18T13:12:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T07:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=18693"},"modified":"2018-04-13T23:12:32","modified_gmt":"2018-04-13T17:42:32","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-17-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-17-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 April 17, 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;\">Q.1) Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli\u00a0recently stated that he will not sign any treaty against Nepal\u2019s interest. \u00a0Does this indicate tensed India-Nepal relations? Examine (GS \u2013 2) <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli\u2019s trip to India comes amid a hitch in bilateral ties of India and Nepal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">P. Sharma Oli had to step down as Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister in 2016 following a blockade on the India-Nepal border.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also Nepal decided to join China\u2019s One Belt One Road policy amid India\u2019s concerns that the Chinese initiative would harm its strategic and economic interests.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Major takeaways from the visit of Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to India are:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expression of readiness to revise and update the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between India and Nepal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Review of the entire spectrum of multifaceted ties between the two countries,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Appreciation of the growing partnership between the two governments, private sector and at the people\u2019s level,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Underscoring the importance of regular high-level political exchanges in strengthening bilateral ties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inauguration of the Integrated Check Post at Birgunj in Nepal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please note: The Integrated Check Post Enhance cross-border trade and transit of goods and movement of people<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enumeration of India\u2019s \u2018Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas\u2019 as a guiding framework for India\u2019s engagement with its neighbors\u2019for a shared vision of inclusive development and prosperity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India congratulated the people and the Government of Nepal for successful conduct of local level, federal parliament and first-ever provincial elections in Nepal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three separate joint statements on the following key areas of mutual interest were issued:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India-Nepal Statement on New Partnership in Agriculture<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India-Nepal Statement on Expanding Rail Linkages: Connecting Raxaul in India to Kathmandu in Nepal, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India-Nepal Statement on New Connectivity through Inland Waterways.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Reason behind not signing any treaty is:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The history, size, levels of population and development are different between the two countries which reflects the differences.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Nepal won\u2019t sign anything against the interest of the nation because there is a fact. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are such treaties that need to be corrected and updated according to the present time needs of the Nepali people and mutual interests, and for mutual respect. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, being a neighbor country differences will be there, but this trip has surely helped clear misunderstandings and mistrust between the two nations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) What is the slew of arguments revolving around 15<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Finance Commission\u2019s Terms of Reference (ToR)? Do you think that opposition by the states is justified?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the introduction of 15th Finance Commission, there have been a slew of arguments against its Terms of Reference (ToR).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Major issues revolving around 15th Finance Commission\u2019s Terms of References are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the terms of reference for the 14th Finance Commission were to use the 1971 Census data for determining devolution of taxes, duties and grants-in-aid.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Central government asked the 15th Finance Commission\u2019s ToR to use the 2011 data. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This move would result in lower resource allocation to the southern States.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Responses to the concern: (11th April, 2018)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, denied the criticisms.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to him:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finance Commissions use both qualitative and quantitative criteria<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Population figures serve as a good proxy for the needs of the people in a quantitative sense.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Income distance captures the relative poverty, to provide a qualitative analysis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Terms of References of 15th Finance Commission rightly balance both the \u201cneeds\u201drepresented by latest population and \u201cprogress towards population control\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, it recognizes the efforts of all the States which have done well in population control.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please note: The next meeting regarding the issue will be held in May, 2018.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, West Bengal, Odisha and Punjab are also expected to take part.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The need of the hour is to address the concerns of stakeholders and evolve principles that lead to an equitable distribution of resources between states and between centre and states.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3) Write short notes on:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a) Earning power in economics (GS &#8211; 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">b) Client politics in political science<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(GS &#8211; 2) <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b> Earning power in economics (GS &#8211; 3)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earning power is notion that people care more about the nominal value of money rather than its real value. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to this idea, workers, for instance, would be impressed if their wages double in a year even if the real value of their money were to drop by more than half during the same period. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The concept, credited to British economist John Maynard Keynes, has been heavily criticised for its assumption that people are na\u00efve. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The theory of rational expectations, which among other things states that people learn from experience and can reset their earlier beliefs, was a response to the idea of money illusion.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b> Client politics in political science<\/b> <b>(GS &#8211; 2)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Client politics is a political situation where government policy is influenced by the interests of a small minority, rather than that of the overwhelming majority. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In politics, smaller groups at times can exert a disproportionate influence on government policy by virtue of being more organised than larger groups. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individuals in these smaller groups have more incentive to organise since the benefits they gain from a favourable policy are larger when they are part of a smaller group. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In contrast, individuals in larger groups have lesser incentive to organise since the benefits they gain are smaller.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives Q.1) Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli\u00a0recently stated that he will not sign any treaty against Nepal\u2019s interest. \u00a0Does this indicate tensed India-Nepal relations? Examine (GS \u2013 2) Introduction: Nepal\u2019s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli\u2019s trip to India comes amid a hitch in bilateral ties of India and Nepal. P. Sharma Oli had to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-17-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 April 17, 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-18693","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":1704923569},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18693","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=18693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18693\/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=18693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}