Mains Practice Questions

Essay Topics

1. The role of civil society organizations in promoting sustainable development.

2. Life is an exam where the syllabus is unknown and question papers are not set.

Case Study

In a horrific incident which sparked outrage in your district, a 17-year-old girl, on her way to school with her younger sister, was attacked with an acid-like substance by two men on a motorcycle near her home. She sustained severe injuries on her face, neck and eyes, currently she is being treated at the Hospital. She comes from a very humble family and her family looked up to her for alleviating them from poverty.

Further, the incident has once again brought back to focus the heinous crime of acid attacks and the easy availability of corrosive substances, therefore, people are anguished and have started protesting and demanding the death penalty for the culprits.

As a district magistrate, what would you do to resolve the situation? What steps would you take to stop easy availability of hazardous substances?

Q. An ethical workplace culture ensures the success of the firm and improves employee job satisfaction. Elucidate. How can ethical culture be introduced into a company? (150 words)

Q. Discuss some parallels between Buddhism and modern ideas on emotional intelligence. (150 words)

Q. Deepfakes present an opportunity to the cyber-criminal and a challenge to everyone else. Discuss (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by the term Global Minimum Tax? How does it affect India’s economy? Discuss. (150 words)

Q. Discuss the impacts of the digital divide on the education and the health sector. (250 Words)

Q. Since independence only a few private member bills have been passed. Does it imply that a discourse dominated by a majority restrict individual voices? Critically examine. (250 Words)

Q. The Civil Disobedience Movement began with Gandhi’s well-known Dandi March. What were the causes of the civil disobedience movement? Critically evaluate its significance. (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by western disturbances? Discuss their role in influencing climate in India. Discuss (150 words)

Essay Topics

1. Shackles of slavery can never be stronger than the quest of freedom.

2 .Scourge of Left Wing Extremism can be tackled only through the twin-pronged strategy of development and deterrence.

Case Study

Your friend Ritwik hails from a village whose surrounding areas were submerged due to floods during the monsoon last year. Government assisted the affected people by giving them cash doles to purchase household goods, seeds to replant crop and cash to compensate for loss of standing crop. Ritwik had his house site on high ground and suffered no loss of personal effects. Luckily, his agricultural land being relatively far away from the flooded river escaped the ravages of the flood. Normally, government machinery is unable to thoroughly assess the damage suffered by each individual family. As a result, people take advantage by making extravagant and often fictitious claims. Ritwik has made false claims like others in the village.

As a close friend of Ritwik, what do you think about his action? Is it a right thing to do? what would be your appropriate response to Ritwik’s conduct?

Q. “A person's moral principles are the consequence of several factors”. In the light of this statement discuss the role of mass media and social media on the formation of moral ideals. (150 Words)

Q. What is Cultural relativism? What are the problems which cultural relativism presents to morality? (150 Words)

Q. Rising advancements in nuclear energy has its own advantages but posed several challenges. Discuss. (150 words)

Q. India has to change its growth-focused policies to people-centric ones in order to stop the economy's downturn. Discuss (250 words)

Q. Indian prisons portray the plight of human rights and are in dire need of serious reform. Discuss. (250 Words)

Q. Despite the goodwill that exists between India and Israel, consider the significant contribution that India made to the cause of Palestine. Elucidate (250 words)

Q. With reference to the theory of plate tectonics, discuss the various types of plate tectonic boundaries around the world. (250 words)

Q. “Children in particular were affected negatively by Covid-19". Considering this statement, discuss the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children, with an emphasis on their health, education, and mental and physical well-being. (250 words)

Essay Topics

1. The endless wait for justice in India.

2. A fire cannot be extinguished with another fire. It is only water that can make a difference.

Case Study

Recently, a 19-year-old Dalit man who was part of catering service was attacked after he accidentally touched the food on the plate of an upper caste person at a wedding function. The matter was resolved after other people present there intervened and the victim returned home. However, the accused and his aides later went to the victim’s residence and beat him up. When other members of the family tried to intervene, they were also beaten up. Further, the accused also damaged a motorcycle parked on the premises of the house. Despite this, police did not make any arrest and took the matter lightly. Due to inaction of police in making any arrest, the situation is further deteriorating and clashes broke out between two opposite groups of upper and lower caste.

(a) As an IPS officer, how would you resolve this issue and what would be your course of action?

(b) How could you prevent re-occurrence of such incidents in your district?

Q. Recently, many private businesses are facing ethical dilemma to lay off their employees. What do you think about this? Discuss. (150 words) 

Q. Discuss the role of ‘moral conscience’ in promoting ethical behavior. (150 words) 

Q. Despite the great scientific potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there are various challenges arising due to rise of AI. Discuss (250 words)

Q. With the growing demand for energy and given the state of India’s renewable energy sector, can bio-energy replace non-renewable source of energy and fulfill India’s energy needs? Discuss (250 words)

Q.  Discuss the issues related  to  judicial appointments  in India.  Can the proposed  National Judicial  Commission Bill upheld the crucial  reform  in  judiciary? (250 words) 

Q. Discuss the significance of strait of Malacca in international trade. (150 words)

Q. Violence against women occurs throughout the life cycle from cradle to grave. Discuss (250 words)

Q. What benefits do projects like the offshore wind energy have in India? Discuss challenges and suggest measures to resolve them. (250 words)