This is for those of you who are planning to write Mains 2020. Primarily, the agenda of this thread would be
1. Answer Writing Practice
2. Sharing examples - anecdotes from Current affairs relevant for Answer writing
3. Any doubts wrt. Paper 1!
Feel free to pool in your suggestions!
Please suggest some high yielding material for world history, that area is quite messed up for me.
https://schoolwires.henry.k12.ga.us/cms/lib/GA01000549/Centricity/Domain/5939/TextBook.pdf
do American revo; french Revo; industrialization;2 world wars&post-war independence. rest of the topics a few days prior to mains, only if time permits.
The ones in Bold are not to be missed.
Guys! Can you list the most concise yet covering-all sources for the subjects of GS-1 World/Indian History, Geography of India, and Society? Would be grateful to you!
http://dl.forumias.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MGP-2019-Brochure-Final.pdf
use any coachings test series syllabus like the one above
or else ;
https://blog.iasscore.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Syllabus_Update_C.pdf
Topic-Arts and Culture
Sub topic- Indian Handicraft (Toys)
Source- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/far-from-a-happy-toy-story-traditional-toy-makers-face-chinese-goods-high-gst-and-lack-of-funds/article32876129.ece
Self notes:-
How reverse migeration affected the condition of female labour population of India. What approach govt and other sectors should have taken to mitigate the situation?
- Rural India is incapable of absorbing the estimated migrant labour. Burden on scarce resources to increase, disguised employment in agriculture, reduced wages for labor in rural areas due to abundance of labor.
- Rural households, particularly those with migrating family members, lose out on income due to reduction in remittances and limited employment opportunities in the short term. Women resort to distress sales of their assets, such as livestock, or are forced to take loans from informal moneylenders.
- Single migrant women working as domestic helps, in salons, in restaurants, shop assistants will not find jobs matching their skill in rural areas.
- number of women trafficking for sexual exploitation increases. Women migrants generally have limited access to information about rules and regulations and very often fail to get the required help in cases of exploitation.
-Women registered to claim access to benefits at one location lose access upon migration to a different location. This is especially true of access to entitlements under the PDS.
There is a need to develop a migration management system . An app for Laborers where they can register with their Names, Age, Skill, Gender, Address at the origin. It will help the state governments to manage the migration streams, help in getting employment, ensure the safety and security of the laborers and track them in the times of crisis. This intervention can be particularly useful for ensuring the safety of female migrant labourers. The success of Arogya Setu app to track COVID cases is an encouraging example of how people are willing to adopt such initiatives.
Article 19(1)(e) of the Constitution, guarantees all Indian citizens the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. Thus, it is incumbent upon the govts to provide for and protect for its populace.
Q.Constitutional secularism is the cornerstone of India's pluralistic society. Comment. 150/200
pluralistic society- Where people of different faiths and beliefs not only live together but also thrive.
constitutional secularism aiding and enriching India's pluralistic society by-
- Preambular values- mentioning secularism as well as fraternity.
- The fundamental right to religion, A25- Practise, preach and propagate one's religion.
- A15- No discrimination based on one's religion or race.
- A29- No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
- State can interfere in religious practices for enforcing social justice measures. eg opening of temples for all the castes.
Indian model of secularism is based on equidistance from all the religions. The constitutional values further help in peaceful coexistence of all the religions.
P.S. - I found the points to be more on gs2 lines rather than gs1 society lines. What more could've been added?
Q.Constitutional secularism is the cornerstone of India's pluralistic society. Comment. 150/200
Secularism refers to distinction from religious matters. Constitutional secularism refers to the constitutional backing of the idea of secularism, example, SECULAR word in preamble of Indian constitution via 42nd AA 1976.
A pluralistic society, is a society where people having different kind of faiths, religious beliefs and practices co-exist and live peacefully. It is a society which is more tolerant, peaceful, and humane.
Constitutional secularism in India has led to existence of a pluralistic society in the following ways:-
- Backing of idea of secularism by a written Indian constitution, eg Preamble of Indian Constitution referring India as a SECULAR country along with the Fundamental duty of abiding by the constitution under part 4A has led to its acceptance and practice among the citizens.
- Provisions of Fundamental rights under part 3 of IC under article 25 to 28 have enabled Indian citizens to profess, practice and propagate any religion that they wish to.
- The difference between Indian Secularism from that of the western secularism, in the sense that apart from being clearly separated from the religious affairs in case of Western secularism, Indian state do take part in religious affairs of the country but with a positive attitude and this has resulted in equal treatment to all religions present in India. For eg, Indian state provides concessions to Islam followers for Haj pilgrimage, Indian state recently constructed the Kartarpur corridor on Indian side to facilitate Sikh pilgrimage, Indian state is developing the Char Dham route and likewise. All these mentioned examples reflect that all religions are equal in the eyes of Indian state which is an essential feature of Indian Secularism.
- The concept of Fraternity in Indian Constitution along with the concept of secularism has further strengthened the bonhomie among citizens of India having different beliefs and faiths. Such brotherhood is clearly reflected when a Muslim family decorates their house on the occasion of Diwali, when a Hindu friend visits a Muslim friend’s house on the occasion of Eid to have biryani and sewai, when people of all faiths are served langar at community kitchens at Gurduwaras.
- Adoption and practice of ancient philosophies such as Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Athithi Devo Bhawa have attracted foreigners too to India to seek mental peace and spirituality eg places such as Haridwar, Varanasi, golden temple, Fatehpur sikri, Jama Masjid etc.
India has come a long way post the 200 years of Divide and rule policy under the imperialist regime but still certain issues like oppression of lower castes, communalisation of politics, hate speeches and mob lynching are still plaguing the very peacefulness of this pluralistic Indian society. Steps such as effective implementation of Manual scavenging act 2013, criminalisation of mob lynching and curbing of circulation of fake news and hate speeches are all warranted.
Q.Constitutional secularism is the cornerstone of India's pluralistic society. Comment. 150/200Secularism refers to distinction from religious matters. Constitutional secularism refers to the constitutional backing of the idea of secularism, example, SECULAR word in preamble of Indian constitution via 42nd AA 1976.
A pluralistic society, is a society where people having different kind of faiths, religious beliefs and practices co-exist and live peacefully. It is a society which is more tolerant, peaceful, and humane.
Constitutional secularism in India has led to existence of a pluralistic society in the following ways:-
- Backing of idea of secularism by a written Indian constitution, eg Preamble of Indian Constitution referring India as a SECULAR country along with the Fundamental duty of abiding by the constitution under part 4A has led to its acceptance and practice among the citizens.
- Provisions of Fundamental rights under part 3 of IC under article 25 to 28 have enabled Indian citizens to profess, practice and propagate any religion that they wish to.
- The difference between Indian Secularism from that of the western secularism, in the sense that apart from being clearly separated from the religious affairs in case of Western secularism, Indian state do take part in religious affairs of the country but with a positive attitude and this has resulted in equal treatment to all religions present in India. For eg, Indian state provides concessions to Islam followers for Haj pilgrimage, Indian state recently constructed the Kartarpur corridor on Indian side to facilitate Sikh pilgrimage, Indian state is developing the Char Dham route and likewise. All these mentioned examples reflect that all religions are equal in the eyes of Indian state which is an essential feature of Indian Secularism.
- The concept of Fraternity in Indian Constitution along with the concept of secularism has further strengthened the bonhomie among citizens of India having different beliefs and faiths. Such brotherhood is clearly reflected when a Muslim family decorates their house on the occasion of Diwali, when a Hindu friend visits a Muslim friend’s house on the occasion of Eid to have biryani and sewai, when people of all faiths are served langar at community kitchens at Gurduwaras.
- Adoption and practice of ancient philosophies such as Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Athithi Devo Bhawa have attracted foreigners too to India to seek mental peace and spirituality eg places such as Haridwar, Varanasi, golden temple, Fatehpur sikri, Jama Masjid etc.
India has come a long way post the 200 years of Divide and rule policy under the imperialist regime but still certain issues like oppression of lower castes, communalisation of politics, hate speeches and mob lynching are still plaguing the very peacefulness of this pluralistic Indian society. Steps such as effective implementation of Manual scavenging act 2013, criminalisation of mob lynching and curbing of circulation of fake news and hate speeches are all warranted.
That is a very crisp answer. Some points for value addition from my notes:
1. Ideal of secularism for India denotes equality among various religious communities as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the Ismail Faruqui v. Union of India judgment.
2. Constitutional secularism cannot be sustained by governments alone but requires collective commitment from an impartial judiciary, a scrupulous media, civil society activists, and an alert citizenry - which are all the foundations of a healthy democracy.
I feel, a one liner needs to be added that constitution is the guiding force. Secularism as a value should be followed by citizens, wherein they respect plurality of cultures and ideas.
@AlexanderSupertramp This question can be in GS1/2. You can quote these articles and judgements for GS2.
As far as GS1 is concerned, we can rely on examples apart from the ones quoted by@TheNotorious . In The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru traced back the evolution of India’s composite culture through millennia of cultural osmosis. The State Emblem of India, the Lion Capital of Ashoka, from 250 BCE at Sarnath, has Buddhist roots.