{"id":19000,"date":"2018-04-25T13:21:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T07:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=19000"},"modified":"2018-04-23T17:21:52","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T11:51:52","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-24-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-24-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 April 24, 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) Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a powerful instrument, is a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest. With the help of examples analyse how PIL has impacted Indian Democracy. (GS \u2013 2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public Interest Litigation (PIL), means a <\/span><b>legal action<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of <\/span><b>public interest or general interest<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in which the public or class of t<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he community have pecuniary interest or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PIL is a powerful instrument to <\/span><b>preserve the rule of law<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and to<\/span><b> ensure the accountability of <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>transparency within structures of governance.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An essential aspect of a genuine PIL petition is that the person who moves the court has no personal interest in the outcome of the proceedings, apart from a general standing as a citizen before the court.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Famous PILs filed which made a positive impact:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Public Interest Litigation against <\/span><b>Ganga water pollution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> led to the implementation of Ganga Action Plan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supreme Court held in the Public Interest Litigation to give <\/span><b>medical aid to every injured citizen as soon as possible<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> without waiting for any procedural formalities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court held that there<\/span><b> cannot be any classification of convicts on the basis of their social status, education or habit of living .<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court declared <\/span><b>Section 66A of the IT Act,2006<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, null and void thus protecting right to freedom of speech.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Vishaka v State of Rajasthan a PIL was filed concerning <\/span><b>sexual harassment of women at work place<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>PILs are being misused to settle:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personal vendetta,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business scores, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Political scores.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>PILs which are dismissed by the Court are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PIL filed against the <\/span><b>sale of a plot of land through public auction.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PIL for <\/span><b>\u00a0increase in the price of onions<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PIL on the <\/span><b>dilapidated condition of railway stations<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PIL to enquire the <\/span><b>death of Justice Loya<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the <\/span><b>government of India telecommunication policy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was challenged by a PIL the court refused to interfere with the matter on the ground that it concerned a question of policy<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Consequences of misuse of PILs are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The PIL had seriously<\/span><b> reduced the efficiency of the judicial system<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by detracting from the ability of the court to <\/span><b>devote its time and resources<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to cases which legitimately require attention,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Huge <\/span><b>backlog <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of cases,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Delayed judgements, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Right to speedy trial<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under Article 21 is affected.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way forward:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judiciary needs to do a <\/span><b>reality check <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on the advent of PIL petitions which flooded the courts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court must be careful to see that the petitioner who approaches it is<\/span><b> acting bona fide<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>not for personal gain, private profit or political or other oblique considerations.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Civil society<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> needs to play a proactive role in <\/span><b>condemning misuse of PILs.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) What is \u2018soft power\u2019? What are the reasons for which the uses of hard powers have been overcasted by soft powers? How India can utilize its soft power for India\u2019s development? (GS \u2013 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soft power refers to the ability of a country to <\/span><b>persuade others<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to do what it wants<\/span><b> without force or coercion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It helps in <\/span><b>building favourable attitude and preferences<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over a period of time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Examples of Soft Power:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is a soft power tool which aims to make smaller countries dependant on China in the name of development and hence support its policies and actions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Non Resident Indians<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> helped create a positive atmosphere which made USA sign the <\/span><b>nuclear deal <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Hard power and its limitations:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the <\/span><b>spread of democracy, and growth of civil society<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, use of hard power has been frowned upon.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The limitations of hard power have also been <\/span><b>exposed to the world<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, US\u2019s War on Terrorism:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No concrete outcome;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arab Spring and crisis in the middle east;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ongoing crisis in Syria;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rise of ISIS; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Refugee Crisis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, the invention of <\/span><b>nuclear weapons<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has imposed serious limitations on the use of hard power.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fear of <\/span><b>Mutually Assured Destruction<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and<\/span><b> spread of nuclear weapons to terrorists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has further dettered the use of hard power.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Tools through which India implements soft power are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>Public Diplomacy Division<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was created within the Ministry of External Affairs;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Indian Council for Cultural Relations <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(ICCR) was expanded worldwide;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Tourism\u2019s \u2019<\/span><b>Incredible India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 campaign;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Bollywood<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> films and shows abroad;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Make in India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> campaign;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intensive<\/span><b> foreign visits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by the Prime Minister;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Inviting world leaders<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-Prince William,Justin Trudeau(Canadian PM),Ivanka Trump etc. and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>NRIs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as cultural ambassadors.<\/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)\u00a0 \u2018Trafficking error\u2019 in economy (GS \u2013 3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">b)\u00a0 \u00a0Program \u2018LaQshya\u2019 (GS \u2013 2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>a) \u2018Trafficking error\u2019 in economy (GS \u2013 3)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Trafficking error\u2019 refers to the difference between the returns on an investment portfolio and a benchmark that it is ideally supposed to imitate. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The presence of the tracking error is attributed to different factors, including the costs involved in the periodic buying and selling of securities in order to rebalance a portfolio. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mutual funds that try to mimic the performance of an index, for instance, may have to sell or buy some stocks after a few quarters. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is because the index itself is often reconstituted based on the market capitalisation of stocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such shuffling of a portfolio involves costs like brokerage and taxes which in turn leads to the tracking error.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>b)\u00a0 Program \u2018LaQshya\u2019 (GS \u2013 2)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Program \u2018LaQshya\u2019 aims to:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">improve quality of care during delivery and immediate post-partum period and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">enhance satisfaction of beneficiaries and provide Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) to all pregnant women attending public health facilities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Implementation:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The LaQshya program is being implemented at all Medical College Hospitals, District Hospitals and First Referral Unit (FRU), and Community Health Center (CHCs).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Salient features of program \u2018LaQshya\u2019 are as follows:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A multi-pronged strategy has been adopted such as improving infrastructure up-gradation, ensuring availability of essential equipment, providing adequate human resources, capacity building of health care workers and improving quality processes in the labour room;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dedicated Obstetric ICUs at Medical College Hospital level and Obstetric HDUs at District Hospital are operationalized; and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Quality Improvement in labour room and maternity OT will be assessed through NQAS (National Quality Assurance Standards) is the following manner:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every facility achieving 70% score on NQAS will be certified as LaQshya certified facility.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Branding of LaQshya certified facilities will be done as per the NQAS score.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facilities scoring more than 90%, 80% and 70% will be given Platinum, Gold and Silver badge accordingly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facilities achieving NQAS certification, defined quality indicators and 80% satisfied beneficiaries will be provided incentive of Rs 6 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh for Medical College Hospital, District Hospital and FRUs respectively.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives Q.1) Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a powerful instrument, is a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest. With the help of examples analyse how PIL has impacted Indian Democracy. (GS \u2013 2) Introduction: Public Interest Litigation (PIL), means a legal action initiated in a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-april-24-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 April 24, 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-19000","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":1702644053},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19000","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=19000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19000\/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=19000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}