General Studies, Essay and Comprehension
Write essays on any four of the following in about 300 words each: 20×4=80
- (a)The campaign to save the endangered species
- (b)What can be done to stop wars ?
- (c)The emerging presence of women in the Indian Armed Forces
- (d)Price rise : causes and effects
- (e)A synthesis of Eastern wisdom and Western science : a needed goal for humanity
- (f)The Indian Armed Forces are a combination of strategic thinking and timely action
Model answer outline
Pick the four topics you know best. Use a short opening, three or four body points and a close.
(a) The campaign to save the endangered species
- Introduce: species are vanishing far faster than nature alone would cause. The IUCN Red List tracks which are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
- Causes: habitat loss, poaching, pollution and climate change.
- India: the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Project Tiger (1973) and Project Elephant (1992). The tiger count rose from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 in 2018.
- Recent step: cheetahs were brought to Kuno National Park from Namibia in September 2022.
- Way forward: protect corridors, stop trade in animal parts, involve local people and use technology such as camera traps.
(b) What can be done to stop wars ?
- Introduce: war destroys lives, economies and trust. Peace needs more than the absence of fighting.
- Law: Article 2(4) of the UN Charter bans the use of force. Chapter VI asks states to settle disputes by talks, mediation and the International Court of Justice.
- Causes to treat: border and resource disputes, arms races, extreme nationalism and poverty.
- Tools: diplomacy, arms control treaties, UN peacekeeping and trade links that make war costly.
- Way forward: reform the Security Council so it can act, build trust through dialogue and teach peace in schools.
(c) The emerging presence of women in the Indian Armed Forces
- Past: women were taken mainly in medical and support roles. Short Service Commission for women began in the 1990s.
- Law: in Babita Puniya (2020) the Supreme Court ordered permanent commission for women officers in the Army, on par with men.
- Now: women fly fighter jets, serve on warships and enter the National Defence Academy from 2022. Women are also included in the Agnipath scheme.
- Barriers: combat roles are still limited, and facilities and attitudes lag.
- Way forward: fair postings, mentoring, family support and open combat roles for those who qualify.
(d) Price rise : causes and effects
- Meaning: a steady rise in the general price level, called inflation. In India it is tracked by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
- Causes: supply shocks, higher fuel prices, rising input costs, too much money chasing few goods, and hoarding.
- Effects: poor and fixed-income families lose buying power. Savings lose value, and the cost of doing business rises.
- Response: the RBI raised the repo rate from May 2022 to cool demand. The government cut fuel duties and curbed some exports.
- Way forward: better storage and supply chains, steady food stocks and targeted help to the poor.
(e) A synthesis of Eastern wisdom and Western science : a needed goal for humanity
- Idea: science gives power over nature. Eastern thought gives guidance on how to use that power well.
- Examples: yoga and meditation are now studied in neuroscience and medicine. The UN declared 21 June as International Day of Yoga in 2014.
- Thinkers: Swami Vivekananda and S. Radhakrishnan held that reason and spiritual insight should work together.
- Need: technology without values brings war, waste and stress. Wisdom without evidence can turn into dogma.
- Way forward: teach science with ethics, test traditional practices openly and share knowledge across cultures.
(f) The Indian Armed Forces are a combination of strategic thinking and timely action
- Introduce: a force needs a plan before a push. Planning sets the aim and action delivers it.
- Cases: Operation Vijay in Kargil (1999) retook heights in hard terrain. The 2019 Balakot air strike showed quick, precise response.
- Strategy: a Chief of Defence Staff was appointed in December 2019 to join the three Services. Theatre commands are being planned.
- Action beyond war: rescue in floods and earthquakes, evacuation of citizens and UN peacekeeping.
- Way forward: modern equipment, joint training and homegrown defence production.
Write arguments for and against each of the following statements: 20×2=40
- (a)Video games sharpen the mind.
- (b)United Nations Organisation has become redundant.
Model answer outline
(a) Video games sharpen the mind
- For: studies link action games to faster reaction time, sharper attention and better spatial skills.
- For: strategy games build planning and teamwork. Some games are used for training and therapy.
- Against: long hours cut sleep, study and exercise. The WHO listed gaming disorder in its disease classification (ICD-11).
- Against: violent content and in-game spending can harm young players.
- Conclude: in limited time and with the right games, they can help. Balance matters.
(b) United Nations has become redundant
- For: the Security Council is stuck when a permanent member uses its veto. It could not stop the 2022 war in Ukraine.
- For: its structure still reflects 1945. India and many large states have no permanent seat.
- Against: the UN still runs peacekeeping, refugee aid (UNHCR), food relief and health work (WHO).
- Against: it is the only forum where all 193 members meet, and it sets global norms on climate and human rights.
- Conclude: it is weakened, not redundant. The answer is reform.
Write reports on the following in about 200 words each: 10×2=20
- (a)Evidences of fellow feeling during the COVID-19 pandemic
- (b)Green energy progress in India
Model answer outline
(a) Fellow feeling during COVID-19
- Format: heading, date, introduction, findings, suggestions, signature line.
- Findings: community kitchens and NGOs fed migrant workers during the 2020 lockdown. Neighbours helped the sick and the old.
- State action: the Vande Bharat Mission brought stranded Indians home from May 2020. India also sent vaccines abroad under Vaccine Maitri in 2021.
- Front line: doctors, nurses, police and sanitation workers kept services running.
- Suggestions: keep volunteer networks ready, support front-line workers and honour community help.
(b) Green energy progress in India
- Format: same as above.
- Findings: at COP26 (2021) India set a target of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 and net zero by 2070. Solar and wind capacity has grown fast.
- Steps: the International Solar Alliance was launched with France in 2015. Production-linked incentives back solar module making.
- Gaps: coal still gives most of India’s power. Grid storage and land for projects are hard to find.
- Suggestions: storage batteries, green hydrogen, rooftop solar and cheaper finance.
Attempt a précis of the given passage in one-third of its length. Do not suggest a title. Write, as far as possible, in your own words. The précis must be written only in the précis-format given below. 15
Only that person can be healthy who feels happiness, and happiness can only be felt by the person who has peace of mind. Fulfilment of basic needs, peace and happiness are the three things desired by man. These can be prioritized. To regulate the journey of life, fulfilling basic needs are a priority. Happiness is a priority for the agreeable feelings it generates. And comforts cannot give happiness to a person unless he has peace.
Rather than seek the gratification of desires, the Indian ethos espouses its antithesis – contentment – as the source of happiness. Contentment in this context refers to a state of mind in which the potential psychic energy, known as libido in Western psychology, is transformed into a serene mental quality, rather than actualized as a desire that needs to be gratified or repressed.
A craving for fame and wealth often results in moral depravity, and in many cases personal destruction. The greatest of woes comes from not knowing contentment; the greatest of faults comes from craving for gains. The nature of humanity and, for that matter, of all creatures, was to live in a simple way, partaking no more than what was needed to maintain the healthy growth of the organism. Beyond that limit were selfish cravings and extravagances. A sage is free from excessive pursuit, enjoyment and expectation. A sage is not the product of moral cultivation but simply someone who lives according to his authentic nature. Alienation from this life of simplicity is the root cause of all human problems.
What are the implications of contentedness for modern people ? First of all, one may raise the point that, unlike animals, human needs extend far beyond the physiological realm to cover psychological, emotional and spiritual needs. Even physiological needs change as civilization progresses. For example, several decades ago, people were content with riding a bicycle, but today driving a car has become a necessity for many of them.
The biggest folly of our times is that the young have been presented with a plethora of objects. The youth are not taught that achieving peace is impossible without limiting the demands of the senses and the mind. Since childhood, we see and hear things which indirectly endorse an attachment to worldly possessions. The infatuation of the young with worldly pleasures grows so strong that it becomes virtually impossible for them to reject the demands of the senses and the mind. The attitude of indifference to worldly pleasures (vairagya) has become an alien concept.
Model answer outline
Target: about 139 words. No title is asked. A sample précis:
Health needs happiness, and happiness needs peace of mind. People want basic needs met, peace and happiness. Comforts cannot please a person who has no peace. Indian thought offers contentment, not the chase after desires, as the source of joy. Contentment turns restless mental energy into calm. Greed for fame and wealth often leads to moral decay and ruin. Humans and other creatures once lived simply and took only what they needed. Cravings and extravagance came later, and moving away from simplicity is the root of human problems. For modern people the idea is hard, because needs now go beyond the body to the mind and spirit and change with civilisation. A bicycle once satisfied, but now many feel they need a car. The young are surrounded by objects and are never taught that peace requires limiting the senses. Detachment has become a strange idea.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: 4×5=20
Properly regulated, the age-old system of apprenticeship could be developed as an alternative means of education rather than a system of exploitation. A blanket ban on children learning crafts would mean loss of a unique opportunity to create a skilled workforce of potential high earners. It would also imply the loss of an opportunity to generate self-employment in a country with rising unemployment and few employment avenues for rural youth, especially home-based women. However, every child under fifteen years should go to school and can learn the family craft while at home.
Sadly, in the craft sector in India, the choice is often between a craftsman's child learning ancestral skills (while on the job, and contributing to the family income in the process) while remaining illiterate, or getting a conventional education. Formal schooling might not actually equip him or her for any job in the future.
The crucial issue is not poverty, which is often cited as a justification for child labour, but whether there are alternative educational opportunities available for the child that would give him/her the same employment opportunities. Can child labour be transformed – through legislation, innovative new planning and educational mechanisms – into a vibrant new form of training and empowerment ?
Training in craft skills, whether at home or through the traditional guru-shishya relationship, should be recognised as industrial training, and given the same support as other forms of technical and vocational education. The family, master craftsperson, cooperative society, institution, or NGO imparting the training should receive some stipend so that the child rather than the employer receives any money that he/she may earn during the period. Otherwise, there is the temptation, often succumbed to, of practising bonded labour of children under the guise of imparting a skill.
Craft skills should be on par with other forms of vocational training, especially in traditional crafts pockets, and should be part of a properly structured curriculum, with trainers or parents paid to impart the skill, rather than using children as unpaid labour. Equally important is the issue of providing facilities for conventional education alongside those for teaching traditional skills, scheduling semesters and hours according to the work structures and seasonality of craft production. Most young craftspeople do not go to school because school hours and locations make it impossible to avail of both disciplines. Much craft production is usually a seasonal affair, with peaks and lows according to market demands. School terms and curricula could be organised accordingly. In a country as diverse and multidimensional as India, there is no one single solution or methodology and we need to find ways for children of craft families to learn a craft and go to school.
- (a)What would blanket ban on children learning crafts' imply?
- (b)What is the dilemma faced by a craftsman's child?
- (c)Who should receive the stipend and why?
- (d)Why does child labour exist ? What can make it a viable mode of employment?
- (e)What measures should be taken to encourage school education amongst children of craftsmen ?
Model answer outline
- (a) It would waste a rare chance to build a skilled workforce of future high earners. It would also lose a way to create self-employment in a country with rising unemployment, especially for home-based women and rural youth.
- (b) The child must choose. Learning the family craft on the job brings income but may leave the child unlettered. Conventional schooling may not prepare the child for any job.
- (c) The family, master craftsperson, cooperative, institution or NGO that trains the child should receive the stipend. The aim is that the child, not the employer, keeps what is earned, so training does not turn into bonded labour.
- (d) It persists because the child has no equal alternative that leads to work, not only because of poverty. It can become viable if law and new planning turn it into recognised training, with a structured curriculum and paid trainers.
- (e) Offer schooling alongside craft training. Set school terms and hours to fit the seasonal work of craft production. Place schools where craft families live.
6.(a) Rewrite the sentences as directed: 1×10=10
- (i)Let the government punish the wrong doers. (Change the voice)
- (ii)The policeman said to the man, “You are a trespasser and will be punished.” (Rewrite the sentence using indirect speech)
- (iii)The meeting started the moment the minister arrived. (Use ‘as soon as’)
- (iv)He does his work ___ without depending on others. (Fill in the blank space with an appropriate reflexive pronoun)
- (v)A law-abiding citizen is one who abides ___ the laws of the land. (Supply the appropriate preposition)
- (vi)I met a woman. Her purse was snatched by someone. (Combine these simple sentences into a complex sentence)
- (vii)You aren’t going out, ___ ? (Add a suitable question tag)
- (viii)He always remembers his well-wishers. (Change into a negative sentence without changing the meaning)
- (ix)He drove too fast for the police to catch him. (Remove ‘too’)
- (x)The book may be in the bag. It may be in the cupboard. (Join the two sentences using ‘either … or’)
6.(b) Write one sentence each using the following phrases to bring out their meaning clearly. Do not change the form of the given phrases: 2×5=10
- (i)Look up to
- (ii)Let down
- (iii)Take up
- (iv)Turn down
- (v)Break into
6.(c) Correct the following sentences without making any unnecessary changes: 1×5=5
- (i)One of the prisoner escaped from the prison van.
- (ii)How you could forget the name of your school?
- (iii)Prices are increasing in leaps and bounds.
- (iv)No sooner I had reached the station than the train started.
- (v)I avoid to go there.
Model answer outline
6.(a)
- (i) The wrong doers should be punished by the government.
- (ii) The policeman told the man that he was a trespasser and would be punished.
- (iii) As soon as the minister arrived, the meeting started.
- (iv) himself. (v) by.
- (vi) I met a woman whose purse was snatched by someone.
- (vii) are you?
- (viii) He never forgets his well-wishers.
- (ix) He drove so fast that the police could not catch him.
- (x) The book is either in the bag or in the cupboard.
6.(b) Sample sentences
- Look up to: Students look up to a teacher who is fair.
- Let down: A good friend will never let you down.
- Take up: She decided to take up painting.
- Turn down: He turned down the job offer.
- Break into: Thieves broke into the shop at night.
6.(c) Corrected
- (i) One of the prisoners escaped from the prison van.
- (ii) How could you forget the name of your school?
- (iii) Prices are increasing by leaps and bounds.
- (iv) No sooner had I reached the station than the train started.
- (v) I avoid going there.
English-language questions transcribed from the official C.A.P.F. (ACs) Examination-2022 question paper on upsc.gov.in (General Studies, Essay and Comprehension). Hindi text omitted. Answers are outlines written by MCQquestion.com, not an official key.
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