Be Mains Ready

You are the director of a department that has recently been engulfed in the #MeToo campaign when two of the deputy directors working under you have been publicly named as sexual predators by two women in the department. As directed by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, you are to initiate a committee of inquiry and submit the report within 90 days.

Before initiating the committee you are faced with two narratives, first, that this is not the first time both women have come forward with similar accusations; second, that you have known both the deputy directors and their families for quite sometime now, and you have noticed nothing in their behaviour that says they could have been the sexual predators as alleged.

Now, while the women want that you begin the inquiry process at the earliest, the deputy directors deny all charges and say that they want to pursue defamation cases against their main accusers. In all this, public pressure is against you, with the media discussing the case on a regular basis.

(a) As a director of a department what will be your course of action for starting an official investigation? State the merits and demerits of whatever course of action you decide to follow.

(b) Do you also agree that the sexual nature of a crime makes the crime ethically different and difficult (to handle) from other crimes? Give valid reasons to support your views.

You are the senior manager in Indian Oil refinery. The Indian government has sent you to another country to apply for a tender for a big project. After arriving there you find out that the officials of that particular country do not pass a project without taking a bribe. You also get to know that the probability of other competing countries paying the bribe is quite high. India is a signatory to the United Nation Convention against Corruption. 

What suggestions can you give to the Indian government in this situation, especially when you know how important this particular project is for the country? (250 words)

Define the following terms: (150 words)

(a) Altruism

(b) Beneficence

(c) Utilitarianism

Examine the principles of Panchsheel Treaty in the context of international ethics. How far are these principles relevant in today's world politics. (250 words)

Explain Gandhiji’s Trusteeship model. What significance does it hold in contemporary corporate governance? (250 words)

Today is the Revision Day for Be Mains Ready Programme.

You are a senior forest official who has recently been posted in a forest range which has a wildlife sanctuary and pilgrimage center of local hill tribes. The sanctuary is a famous trekking site, but is open only for males as the local tribal culture doesn’t permit the entry of women to the hill site housing their deity. 

Recently, the State High Court has lifted this unofficial ban on women following which there has been pressure from women's group to open the trekking site for all, while the local tribal group opposes the same. You fear that opening the site might lead to protest from tribals, compromising law and order situation and endanger the safety of trekkers to the site.

(A) What are the options open to you in this scenario? Discuss along with their merits and demerits?

(B) Which would be the most appropriate action that you would take in this situation and why? (250 words)

How could influence and persuasion contribute to desirable social and economic change in the country? (250 words)

Examine how an organisation’s work culture impacts or imparts ethics towards society at large. (250 words)

ABC Ltd. is a large transnational company having diversified business activities with a huge shareholder base. The company is continuously expanding and generating employment. The company, in its expansion and diversification programme, decides to establish a new plant at Vikaspuri, an area which is underdeveloped. The new plant is designed to use energy-efficient technology that will help the company to save production cost by 20%. The company’s decision goes well with the Government policy of attracting investment to develop such underdeveloped regions. The government has also announced a tax holiday for five years for the companies that invest in underdeveloped areas. However, the new plant may bring chaos for the inhabitants of Vikaspuri region, which is otherwise tranquil. The new plant may result in increased cost of living, aliens migrating to the region, disturbing the social and economic order. The company sensing the possible protest tried to educate the people of Vikaspuri region and the public in general that how its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy would help overcome the likely difficulties of the residents of Vikaspuri region. In spite of this, the protests begin and some of the residents decided to approach the judiciary as their plea before the Government did not yield any result. 

(A) Identify the issues involved in the case.

(B) What can be suggested to satisfy the company’s goal and to address the residents’ concerns?

What do you understand by bioethics? Discuss issues related to bioethics in India. (250 words)

Examine the following, along with relevant examples:

(A) An action can be legally wrong but ethically correct and vice versa.

(B) Under what situations, a person cannot be held as unethical despite his actions looking seemingly unethical or illegal. (250 words)

Today is Test 6 of the Mains Test Series. Best of luck!

You are posted as forest range officer in an area with a tiger biosphere reserve. Recently, due to construction of a highway, that passes through the biosphere reserve, the tiger habitat has shrunk, along with a spurt in tiger population. This has led to cases of tigers spilling out of forest area into the nearby villages, causing loss of cattle and human lives in these villages. Due to this, agitated villagers have begun killing and poisoning tigers.

(1) Do you think action taken by villagers in this situation is right? Give reasons in support of your answer.

(2) What are the options available to you to resolve this situation? (250 words)

In a given scenario, a military team locates a terrorist cell preparing an attack expected to kill hundreds. They command a drone that can drop a bomb on the terrorists, preventing their attack. As the team readies the bomb, their cameras spy a little girl selling bread within the blast radius. Should they go through with their mission – killing the girl in order to prevent the deaths of many others? 

(1) Examine the options available to the military team, along with their pros and cons. 

(2) In this scenario, as the head of the military team, what course of action would you adopt? (250 words)

International laws and treaties act as the sources of ethical guidance in contemporary international relations. Critically examine. (250 words)

Examine the types of value conflicts that may be present in public service. (250 words)

Discuss Kautilya’s philosophy of “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja” (As the king is, so will be the people) in the context of today’s political leadership in India. (250 words)

Socrates’ model of the just state was that of a healthy organism, where all the parts function for the benefit of the whole, and the whole benefits the parts. Examine. (250 words)

“An action is moral if it is the outcome of a moral agent’s sense of duty.” Examine this statement in reference to Kant’s concept of moral duty. How is it different from consequentialism? (250 words)