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Doubt Clearance Thread: UPSC 2021

"When in doubt, observe and ask questions. When certain, observe at length and ask many more questions."

Created this thread as a one stop solution for all members so that all the doubts wherein any conceptual clarification is required can be solved here. 

jack_Sparrow,curious_kidand122 otherslike this
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4.2k comments

can some music knower let me understand the difference bw hindustani and carnatic?

Hindustani- raga based, stresses pure notes, alapanas are elaborated from note to note, different shailey, a separate repertoire for instrumental and vocal, sarangi is a major accompaniment, while the violin reigns in Carnatic.

Carnatic- kriti based, gamaka, phrase to phrase, has styles,same kriti-based compositions as the vocalists, concept of tani avaratanam is found in Carnatic music, while the tabla player intersperses the main artist’s rendering with solos. concept of upapakkavadyam does not exist in Hindustani music.

Undine,
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Can someone explain the new IT rules in a lucid way and the basic difference between the 2011 act and the 2021 act? 
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Can someone explain the new IT rules in a lucid way and the basic difference between the 2011 act and the 2021 act? 

Code includes guidelines meant to empower the users of social and digital media, over the top (OTT) media streaming platforms and online news sites, by holding those companies accountable for the content that is being circulated on their platforms.

The new guidelines require social media companies with more than 50 lakh users to remove unlawful content within a specific time, appoint officers for grievance redressal and create a mechanism for tracing 'first originated message' in social media services that provide messaging.



Foolphoton,Undine
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Can someone explain the new IT rules in a lucid way and the basic difference between the 2011 act and the 2021 act? 

It's not a new act, it's being done under the powers conferred by the IT act 2011.

The new IT rules have two dimensions - part 1 deals with social media intermediaries like fb, twitter, and part 2 deals with digital news media and OTT platforms. This part 2 was not covered in IT act 2011, but govt went ahead with it anyways eventhough this would constitute a colorable exercise of power i.e doing something that govt was not directly empowered to do in the original act.

 

Now coming to part 1 - the rules divide intermediaries in to two categories -- social media intermediaries and significant social media(ssm) intermediary (those with more than 5 million users like twitter, fb,wahtsapp). Both these categories will have different compliance requirements particularly with respect to grievance redressal. for instance ssm intermediaries will have to set up a team of resident grievance officer, nodal person of contact , compliance officer, while those with less than 5million users only need to appoint a grievance officer. Besides there are strict timelines withing which action has to be taken like 36 hours. Another important change is in context of data storage which as been raised to 180 days even if user deletes his account. 

But the most regressive change is the requirement for tracing of originator of data which will spell doom for end to end encryption and make users vuknerable to cybercrimes, surveillance and violation of privacy by govt, by intermediaries, by hackers. They have also asked for automated filtering of sexual content like child sexual abuse from their platform, but the problem is it may lead to function creep. Besides automated filters like Photodna are not very accurate. FB algorithm for instance removed the famous Napalm girl photo. And this filtering is also to applied to content that government/court has ordered to be removed. so for instance a farm protest filter can be created and it will take down all such posts.

 

Moving to part 2 , this is a wholly new section and will be administered by IB misnistry. Here no distinction is made between small and large players. Every organisation dealing in news and current affaris has to comply. Some good steps in this are provisions for age verification, classification of content acording to age , improving accessibility for disabled persons. A code of ethics has been provided in the rules to be adhered by these digital media and ott plarforms. The most controversial of the issues in this section are - emergency blocking powers to take down any content without giving any hearing(more 2016 ndtv ban like incidences ), 3 tier adjudicatory mechanism which is touted as a self-regulatory mechanism but in which ultimately executive will exercise judicial powers and thus goes against separation of power doctrine.

If companies fail to follow these rules they will lose the shield IT act that provided them immunity from prosecution for content on their platform by 3rd parties...Other nitty-gritties can be covered from vision or other compilation.


upsc2020,BurtMacklin_FBIand4 otherslike this
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@upsc2020 @D503 Thank you very much for explaining it so well. I don't think there's anything left for vision or any other compilation to explain. 🙏🙏 


D503,upsc2020
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I have a confusion - Is chief secretary of a state appointed by the Chief Minister of the state or the President of India?
D503,Undine
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I have a confusion - Is chief secretary of a state appointed by the Chief Minister of the state or the President of India?

Chief Secretary is chosen by Chief Minister. As far as the appointment goes,  he is appointed by Governor as the official acts are signed in Governor’s name. 

All appointments to Civil Services are made by the President of India ( this is when you're recruited )

RonWeasley,Undine
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west bank has boundaries with Dead sea... should we  not take surround in its meaning way?

Undine,
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west bank has boundaries with Dead sea... should we  not take surround in its meaning way?

West Bank | History, Population, Map, Settlements, & Facts | Britannica

PursuitofHappyness,
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west bank has boundaries with Dead sea... should we  not take surround in its meaning way?

If the statement had said, "surrounded on all sides by Dead Sea", then it would have been false. Otherwise, we can assume that surround means borders.

PursuitofHappyness,
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Can someone share an insight about how to prepare art and culture for mains. I really find it difficult 
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"Decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha with regards to certification of a bill as Money Bill is final and cannot be challenged in court". True or False?
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@RAGNAROK https://ravijainupsc.wordpress.com/2020/10/05/gs-1/


RAGNAROK,
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@sandeep_sks2k7280 true but can be challenged based on violation of constitution provisions or illegality  only


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@RAGNAROKhey can help out with that but i havent written mains so its totally upto u to take up the advice...firstly you should go check mrunal website it has categories mains gs topic wise... so if you look at art n culture questions they mostly deal with buddhism, pre historic rock art n art n architecture during regimes such as mughal, gupta, vijaynagara etc.. my basic source is tamil nadu board ncerts.. for mains i have made notes out of satish chandra n rs sharma but ONLYY art n architecture during all the dynasties.. just wrote major points not detailed so that i can answer any question in mains.. also 11th class fine arts ncert it covers buddhism n temple architecture, indo islamic architecture, prehistoric art well...


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@RAGNAROKalso it might be appearing daunting to u .. but see tn ncerts cover prelims well ..only 11th one .. n rs sharma satish chandra you have to do very veryy selectively only the particular art n architecture section of each chapter.. so all in all i wont take more than 10 days at max..feel free to ask any doubts


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@Curious_souls thanks for the advice. Seems helpful 

For prelims I am comfortable with culture. Its the mains that I was worried for. I have started to concise points based topic wise . And yeah focus is on ancient and architecture part. 

Will get back in case any doubt


Curious_souls,
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@RAGNAROK then it means the answer should be false


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@sandeep_sks2k7280 yes but read the question correctly for any caveats mentioned if any


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We are all aware about the problems associated with lack of effective regulation of NGOs in India. However, we cannot deny their impact on developmental processes either. In this regard, how do we balance the need for effective regulation without crippling the agency of NGOs? 

Things to keep in mind: NGO concentration in urban areas, small scale of the majority of NGOs, the causes raised by NGOs being so diverse but all important in their own sense, need for equality in regulation of NGOs, need for equitable distribution of resources and equity in society

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