General Studies, Essay and Comprehension
Write essays on any four of the following in about 300 words each: 20×4=80
- (a)Importance of Cyber Security in the world of digital information
- (b)Cultural diplomacy and world peace
- (c)Impact of climate change on Indian agriculture
- (d)Women's health : A journey of resilience and empowerment
- (e)A thing of beauty is a joy forever
- (f)Cryptocurrency : A threat to world trade
Model answer outline
Pick the four topics you know best. Use a short opening, three or four body points and a close.
(a) Importance of Cyber Security in the world of digital information
- Introduce: banking, health, voting and defence now run on data. A breach can hurt people and states alike.
- Threats: ransomware, phishing, identity theft, attacks on power grids and hospitals, and state-backed hacking.
- India’s steps: the IT Act, 2000, CERT-In (2004), the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (2018) and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
- Gaps: few trained experts, weak small-firm security and low user awareness.
- Way forward: regular audits, cyber training in schools, strong encryption and joint rules with other nations.
(b) Cultural diplomacy and world peace
- Meaning: countries share art, language, food, sport and ideas to win trust. This is a form of soft power.
- Link to peace: the UNESCO Constitution says wars begin in the minds of men, so peace must be built there.
- India’s tools: the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (1950), Buddhist heritage links, yoga (International Day of Yoga since 2015) and Bollywood.
- Limits: culture alone cannot end a conflict if interests clash. It can also be used as propaganda.
- Way forward: student exchanges, joint heritage projects and fair access for all cultures.
(c) Impact of climate change on Indian agriculture
- Introduce: about half of Indian workers depend on farming, and most farms rely on the monsoon.
- Effects: uneven rain, floods, droughts and heat. The March 2022 heat wave cut wheat output in several states.
- Other harm: pests spread, soil moisture falls, and coastal land turns salty as seas rise.
- Steps taken: the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture project (2011), the crop insurance scheme PMFBY (2016) and micro-irrigation under PMKSY.
- Way forward: heat-tolerant seeds, crop diversity, better weather alerts and water saving.
(d) Women’s health : A journey of resilience and empowerment
- Introduce: women’s health shapes family health, work and the economy.
- Progress: institutional births rose after the Janani Suraksha Yojana (2005). Schemes like Ayushman Bharat (2018) widened care.
- Nutrition: Poshan Abhiyaan (2018) targets anaemia and child growth. Anaemia among women is still high in NFHS-5.
- Gaps: mental health, cancer screening and rural access are weak.
- Way forward: more women health workers, health literacy and shared decisions at home. Better health also builds women’s voice and independence.
(e) A thing of beauty is a joy forever
- Source: this is the first line of Keats’s poem Endymion.
- Idea: real beauty gives lasting calm. It does not fade like wealth or fame.
- Examples: the Taj Mahal, a Tagore song or a forest dawn still move people after centuries.
- Beauty and life: it lifts the mind, softens anger and builds a shared culture.
- Close: protect nature and art, so the joy passes on to the next generation.
(f) Cryptocurrency : A threat to world trade
- Introduce: Bitcoin began in 2009. Digital coins are now traded across borders, with no central bank behind them.
- Risks: wild price swings, money laundering, fraud and loss of control over money supply.
- Benefits: cheap and quick cross-border payment, and access for the unbanked.
- India: gains are taxed at 30 per cent with 1 per cent TDS (2022). The RBI runs a central bank digital currency, the e-rupee.
- Way forward: common global rules, as sought by the FATF, and regulated digital currencies run by states.
Write arguments for and against each of the following statements: 20×2=40
- (a)A nuclear weapon is a deterrent to warfare
- (b)The use of artificial intelligence is unavoidable today
Model answer outline
(a) A nuclear weapon is a deterrent to warfare
- For: the fear of mutual destruction kept the United States and the USSR from direct war in the Cold War.
- For: India’s no-first-use doctrine (2003) uses a minimum deterrent to prevent attack, not to fight.
- Against: the Cuban missile crisis (1962) showed how close a mistake can come. Accidents and false alarms remain risks.
- Against: deterrence does not stop smaller wars, such as Kargil (1999), and it drives arms races.
- Conclude: it may prevent big wars, but a safer path is arms control and talks.
(b) The use of artificial intelligence is unavoidable today
- For: AI is already in banking, health, search and farming. Firms that skip it fall behind.
- For: India approved the IndiaAI Mission in 2024 to build computing power and skills.
- Against: jobs may be lost, bias can creep in, and deepfakes spread lies. Use can be limited by law.
- Against: laws such as the EU AI Act (2024) show societies can set limits.
- Conclude: AI use is hard to avoid, but how and where we use it is a choice.
Write reports on the following in about 200 words each. Do not mention any name or address in the reports. Use XYZ/ABC, if needed. 10×2=20
- (a)Rapid growth of old age homes in India
- (b)Deportation of illegal migrants
Model answer outline
(a) Old age homes
- Format: heading, date, introduction, findings, suggestions, and a signature line with XYZ.
- Findings: India had about 104 million people aged 60 plus in Census 2011. The number is rising fast.
- Causes: smaller families, migration for jobs, rising costs and changing values.
- Law: the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 makes children responsible for support.
- Suggestions: day-care centres, home care, pension support and regular checks on homes.
(b) Deportation of illegal migrants
- Format: same as above, with ABC as the department name.
- Law: the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Citizenship Act, 1955 govern entry and removal.
- Rights: Article 21 protects the life and dignity of every person, even a non-citizen. Due process must be followed.
- Concerns: risk of sending people to danger, which conflicts with the non-refoulement norm. India has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention.
- Suggestions: verify identity fairly, allow appeals, and work with the home country on safe return.
Attempt a précis of the given passage in one-third of its length. Write, as far as possible, in your own words. The précis should be attempted only on the précis sheets. 15
In order to understand what religion means by the love of God, it is necessary first to distinguish the two kinds of love signified by the Greek words eros and agape. Eros is "desiring love," love that is evoked by the desirable qualities of the beloved. This love is evoked by and depends upon the loveableness of its objects. He loves her because she is pretty, charming, cute. She loves him because he is handsome, manly, clever. Parents love their children because they are their children. However, when religion speaks of God's love for mankind, it employs a different term, agape. Unlike eros, agape is unconditional and universal in its range. It is given to someone, not because she or he has special characteristics, but simply because that person is there as a person. The nature of agape is to value a person in such ways as actively to seek his or her deepest welfare and fulfillment. It is in this sense that religion speaks of God's love for mankind. When it is said, for example, that "God is love" or that "God so loved the world…," the word used is agape and its cognates.
God's universal love for human creatures, a love not rooted in their virtue or in what they have deserved but in God's own nature as agape, is the basis for that side of theistic religion that knows God as the final succor and security of a person's life: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." For the ultimate of grace is believed to be also the ultimate of power, the sovereign love which guarantees our final fulfillment and well-being.
The infinite divine love also gives rise to that side of religious experience in which God is known as claiming the total obedience of a person's life. God is thought of as "Lord" and "King" as well as "Father." The divine commands come with the accent of absolute and unconditional claim, a claim that may not be set in the balance with any other interest whatever, not even life itself. This element of demand can be viewed as an expression of the divine love, seeking the best that lies potentially within the creature. Even between human beings there is nothing so inexorably demanding as a love that seeks our highest good and cannot be content that we be less than our best. Because it is infinite, the love of the Creator for the creatures made in the divine image implies a moral demand of this kind that is absolute and unqualified. (431 words)
Model answer outline
Target: about 145 words. A sample précis:
Religion speaks of two kinds of love, eros and agape. Eros is desiring love, aroused by the lovable qualities of the beloved and dependent on them. Agape, the word used for God’s love, is unconditional and universal. It is given to a person simply for being a person, and it seeks that person’s deepest welfare. This love comes from God’s own nature, not from human merit. It makes God the final refuge of life, because the highest love is also the highest power. The same infinite love also claims total obedience. God is Lord and King as well as Father, and divine commands outrank every other interest, even life. This demand is itself love. Like human love that wants our highest good, it cannot accept less than our best. Being infinite, the Creator’s love for creatures made in the divine image carries an absolute moral demand.
Tips: keep the order of ideas, drop examples, add a title.
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: 4×5=20
The international state system and the modern state, as we know it today, is rather young. The treaty of Westphalia of 1648 is said to be the beginning of the system of sovereign states. But what sort of a system existed prior to Westphalia and why historians and scholars of International Relations (IR) consider it fundamental is important to understand. The modern state, with defined political borders and sovereignty, was an alien concept till the sixteenth century. Pre- and post- Westphalia, several things have remained unchanged. Wars were fought and peace treaties were signed. But the treaty of Westphalia drew up a list of core principles, which redefined the conception of the state. Huge empires sprawled across the globe and dynasties frequently changed. Political boundaries were almost fluid, being drawn and violated repeatedly. Territories were often cut up and divided amongst allies or appropriated. The treaty of Westphalia revised this completely. Territories were fixed and marked as inviolable. Sovereignty of the state or supremacy of the state became an accepted norm. These developments facilitated the growth of international relations, for now states could conduct relations and maintain ties as clearly identified actors; no longer did the states constantly changed their role. The treaty of Westphalia was strengthened with two major turns in history: the birth of the American nation and the French Revolution. Both lent the treaty certain credibility and deepened the norm of sovereignty and territorial inviolability.
When the Americans snapped ties with Great Britain after the much publicised and historic Boston Tea Party and declared that they were an independent nation, the idea that a nation is possible without a royal ruling dynasty was perpetuated. The French Revolution carried on the short history of breaking links with the past and rejecting 4 the ancient regime. The cry of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" spelt the death knell of not only Marie Antoinette, the young French empress, but also the traditional social structure of France. The idea that society was divided into classes was overturned and replaced with that of fraternity. The idea of a Republic was revolutionary in 1789 and was poised to spread across Europe.
The growth of international law is closely related to the simultaneous conceptualisation of state sovereignty. International law could be defined as a code of conduct, which states adhere to, both in times of war and peace. The body of international law as we know it today, has been evolving for the last four or five hundred years in Europe. The term international law, first used by Jeremy Bentham in 1780, was used to express the "law of states" and its primary purpose was to regulate the relations between states. This law and its consequent obligations have been accepted by states. It not only outlines the rights and duties of states, but also provides means to amicably resolve disputes between states.
- 5.(a)What sort of a state system existed prior to Westphalia?
- 5.(b)What core principles did the treaty of Westphalia draw up?
- 5.(c)How did Westphalia facilitate the growth of international relations?
- 5.(d)How did the birth of the American nation and the French Revolution lend credibility to the treaty of Westphalia?
- 5.(e)How was international law conceptualized for the first time?
Model answer outline
- (a) There was no modern state with defined borders and sovereignty. Huge empires sprawled, dynasties changed often, and boundaries were fluid. Territories were cut up among allies or seized.
- (b) Territories were fixed and marked as inviolable. The sovereignty, or supremacy, of the state became an accepted norm.
- (c) States could now deal with each other as clearly identified actors. They no longer kept changing their role.
- (d) The Americans broke from Britain and showed a nation could exist without a ruling dynasty. The French Revolution rejected the old order and spread the idea of a republic. Both deepened the norms of sovereignty and territorial inviolability.
- (e) It grew with the idea of state sovereignty, as a code of conduct for states in war and peace. Jeremy Bentham first used the term “international law” in 1780, for the law of states.
6.(a) Rewrite the sentences as directed: 1×10=10
- (i)We elected him the captain of the team. (Change the voice)
- (ii)He is so weak that he cannot stand. (Rewrite the sentence using "too … to")
- (iii)She ___ (live) in the colony since 2011. (Use the correct tense)
- (iv)Some of the people are not acquainted ___ the norms of the society. (Use correct preposition to fill in the blank)
- (v)What time does this train get ___ London? (Fill in the blank with the appropriate preposition)
- (vi)He said to me, "I don't believe you." (Change into indirect speech)
- (vii)He has completed his work last Monday. (Use the correct form of the verb)
- (viii)He wore a gaudy dress. (Rewrite using question tag)
- (ix)He lost his balance ___ fell off the bicycle. (Supply the appropriate conjunction)
- (x)We must eat. We cannot live. (Combine the two sentences into a simple sentence)
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)Break down
- (ii)Look after
- (iii)Bear upon
- (iv)Stand by
- (v)Enter into
6.(c) Correct the following sentences without making any unnecessary changes: 1×5=5
- (i)All that glitter is not gold.
- (ii)I asked him to look into the dictionary.
- (iii)Unless he does not apologise, he should not be allowed to sit in the class.
- (iv)He liked you better than he likes me.
- (v)One of my friends are very rich and prosperous.
Model answer outline
6.(a)
- (i) He was elected captain of the team by us. (ii) He is too weak to stand.
- (iii) She has lived in the colony since 2011. (iv) with. (v) to.
- (vi) He told me that he did not believe me.
- (vii) He completed his work last Monday.
- (viii) He wore a gaudy dress, didn’t he? (ix) and.
- (x) We must eat to live.
6.(b) Sample sentences
- Break down: The old car broke down on the highway.
- Look after: She looks after her ageing parents.
- Bear upon: These facts bear upon the case.
- Stand by: A true friend stands by you in trouble.
- Enter into: The two firms entered into a contract.
6.(c) Corrected
- (i) All that glitters is not gold.
- (ii) I asked him to look in (or up a word in) the dictionary.
- (iii) Unless he apologises, he should not be allowed to sit in the class.
- (iv) He liked you better than he liked me.
- (v) One of my friends is very rich and prosperous.
English-language questions transcribed from the official C.A.P.F. (ACs) Examination-2025 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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