[Official] CS INTERVIEW 2019 PREPARATION : COMBAT

Let's discuss about CDS. A new dept has been created under MoD named as Dept of military affairs (DMA). CDS will act as ex-officio secretary of this department.

Issue arising out of this design- (taken from comment on FB)
Since the Dept of Defence under Defence Secretary is still supreme with the Defence Secretary having complete authority on making defence policy and the responsibility of defence of India, it will be worth seeing how the CDS and Defence Secretary moves together. CDS will always show his domain expertise, it has to be watched if the Defence secretary surrenders or keeps his position intact. It's a fight of two personalities.

please share your views.

Some possible questions/topics in this year's interview :

1. Is CAA violative of Article 14/21, Secularism (basic feature, SR Bommai 1994) ? Will it not be better for the GoI not to go for 'persecuted religious minorities' but 'persecuted communities' in those three nations ? (And the follow up questions)

2. Do you think that history of India needs to be rewritten or revisited ? What are issues in the existing historical texts ? Are they free of bias or have some inclination towards one version over the other ? (In wake of some political callings in this regard)

3. Anti-Rape Laws and Justice delivery. (In wake of Unnao, Hyderabad & encounter and AP's Disha Act).

4. Cooperative federalism withering ? ( States openly defying Union's Acts/policies -CAA/NRC)

5. ISRO and it's significance in achievement of SDGs and other socio-economic and technological objectives.

6. Economic slowdown - Reasons/concerning areas/govt steps/way ahead. (Will we miss $5trillion dollar mark in years to come ? What about Doubling Farmer's Income )

7. Was US justified in killing of the General ? How you see India Iran relations in short to medium term ? If Iran goes into War like situation with US, what should be course of action for India ? Can it afford to be neutral ?

8. Some experts say that there is a link between slowdown of world economy and the possibility of war among major powers. Is this linkage appropriate ? What is your view on economics of War ?

(More such questions are welcome. Please add on.)

@Barry_AllenAccording to an article in IDR, some of the challenges with CDS are-
1.Too much power resting in one military official (CDS) can have the potential of a coup.
2. CDS “is an over kill”, as a single centralised structure is expected to be slow in decision making process.
3.Lack of coordination between the bureaucracy, parliament and military is a prevalent situation.Bureaucracy-Uniform divide continues to deepen.

Could you add some more? And what are the positives of CDS ?

Please share your ideas on mutiple capitals in a state as recently conceived by the state of Andhra Pradesh?? Both positives and negatives.

@Abraham-MaslowPlease give your ideas on above topics. What and how would you answer them?

@Barry_AllenA classic case of rivalry between respective administrative Heads. As we see in case of IAS vs IPS and likes.

Here in this, the same tussle is destined to occur. Although by taking few cautious steps, this tussle can be minimised, if not eliminated :

1. The very basis of CoDS is to streamline and converge the information and strategies of three services at one place and send it to the PMO/Defense Minister, as the case may be , for QUICK AND EFFICIENT DECISION MAKING.
   Hence, in strategic matters and incidents where there is a threat of imminent incursions, CDS should prevail. Defense Secretary should not be allowed to act as a dilatory chamber.

2. DS is policy expert and CDS is military and strategy expert. While framing any defense policy, CDS views/recommendations must be carefully perused and should find mention in the policy document by office of DS.

3. Also, there should be an effort to develop camaraderie between two Heads. They must understand that ORGANISATIONAL INTEREST TRUMPS INDIVIDUAL INTEREST. National Security is paramount, any delay by anyone should not compromise it.

4. If at all issues occur, MoD and even PMO can intervene and resolve the issue at the earliest.

(More points are welcomed).

@Behemoth+ves:

• DMA will promote jointness in areas such as procurement, training and staffing.
• effective coordination in managing the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
• expedite the procurement to the Indian Armed Forces.
• The CDS is also seen as being vital to the creation of “theatre commands”, integrating tri-service assets and personnel like in the US military.

@Behemoth@Barry_Allen.What do you think of it?

@BehemothSurely, one by one, will try to answer. Will keep posting questions too as and when it pops up in mind.

@Abraham-MaslowSure.

@BehemothAP or for the matter any big state will have the problem of capital city not being accessible everyone equally because of unavoidable reasons!
In our case the northern most district Bidar is 150 odd kms from Hyderabad but 700 kilometres
(Recently a MLA of some border taluk of AP demanded his constituency to be merged with Karnataka since they had cultural/linguistic similarities plus Bengaluru was more accessible than the new capital)
In such cases probably having multiple capitals makes sense!
Advantages:

1. Improved governance
2. Ease of accessibility of government and administrative machinery to all residents
3. Infrastructural improvements
4. Regional disparities would be slowly sidelined.
5. J and K model can be used as reference

Disadvantages:

1. Obviously financial aspects of it
2. 3 power centres for jud/leg/adm might result in confusion among people
3. Also chances of these centres getting alienated from each other would be high due to lack of coordination!

Can only think of these now!

@Abraham-Maslow

1. CAA is not in violation of Article 14/21 as they provide for reasonable justification in the constitution itself. Any Nation state has the right to choose who can enter its territory and who can be given its citizenship. The religious minorities in These 3 countries have been persecuted for decades and they need refuge & a normal life in the subcontinent & there can’t be better place for them than India where they already are.

Regarding secularism , yes it’s basic feature of the constitution, the state can’t differentiate between citizens in the basis of religion . Here we are talking about illegal immigrants so the applicability of doctrine of secularism does not apply here.

Regarding persecuted communities like ahmediyas in Pakistan , the gates are always open through CAA but there is necessarily a special case for religious minorities in these countries given their systematic persecution & human rights violations .

@BehemothMy two cents.

Positives

• Multiple capitals might help in furthering the idea of inclusive development through decentralisation of importance assigned to capital cities. Capitals are usually the centre of attraction for investment, infra development and alike.

• to further strengthen the culture of accomodation of diversity

• to dispel the sense of alienation for certain groups.

Negatives

• Huge burden on state exchequer to set up conducive infrastructure

• Politicisation of development. Power tussles will become more frequent.

@ManchesterUnited@AzadHindFauzNice points. Currently South africa has such concept of three capitals in the form of Pretoria , Capetown and Bloenfontein. Different capitals would also promote the idea of decentralisation of development and would accomodate the needs of district regions. It would also thwart the tendency to demand a new separate state. In my opinion, it should be tried in bigger states where disparities exist.

@Abcxyz well thought out.

Suppose interviewer throws this googly :

"The Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and Ordinance XX declare Ahmadis to benon-muslimsand further deprive them of religious rights."

Since they are considered as NON MUSLIMS and other minorities are also fall under the same category of NON MUSLIMS, will it not be prudent to give mention to Ahmadis as a special case ? If any of Ahmadi is illegal immigrant who came before 31st Dec 2014, should he/she not be given citizenship ?

How one should answer this ?

@Abraham-Maslowsaid inCS INTERVIEW 2019 PREPARATION : COMBAT:

ISRO and it's significance in achievement of SDGs and other socio-economic and technological objectives.

• Tele-education using comm sat can help in providing quality education (SDG-4) to a large section even in remote areas.
• Telemedicine- good health- SDG3
• ISRO research and excellence in solar cells and Li-ion technology can help promote affordable and clean energy.
• Resource sats (RISAT-2A, 2B) of ISRO are used for disaster mgmt ops.
  *Land information system (LIS) & Geographic information system (GIS) using CARTOSAT (cartographic application) helps in building sustainable cities.
• HIgh speed bandwidth Comm satellites provide high speed bandwidth to village resource centre (VRC). It helps in reducing regional inequalities.
• south asian satellite- partnership for fulfilling SDGs.

More points are welcome.

@Abcxyz Recently ie until 2017 Hindu marriages weren’t legal in pak!
And those brides according to the law of that land(if one exists there) were unmarried and were subjected to kidnapping,conversions and forecful marriages and the law still has a clause which says if either of the spouses convert it would lead to marriage being annulled.
This can be added too!

@Abraham-MaslowHe would still be allowed to avail the benefits but not at the behest of CAA!
11 years scenario comes into picture!