Mains Practice Questions

Essay Topic

Religion and Morality

Essay Topic

“Let him who would move the world first move himself.” - Socrates

More than a hundred children, who were being treated at a government hospital, have lost their lives in the course of a month. The agitated family members have accused the hospital of having extremely unhygienic conditions and negligence. Relatives of one of the families have staged a protest, carrying the body of a three-day-old girl who was born via c section. The relatives have alleged that the doctors did not treat her properly and that the paramedical staff was mostly busy on their mobile phones. The representatives of the hospital have denied the allegations claiming that the children are mostly referred from other hospitals and many of them come when they are at the terminal stage of their illness. They have also claimed that infants develop serious problems during transit. Quoting data from a national-level survey conducted by the government, the hospital management has also stated that they do not receive the required amount of funds to upgrade the infrastructure. 

You are the DM of the district. What are the possible courses of actions available to you? Which one do you think will be the most appropriate step that can be taken and why?

Q. Deteriorating ecological ethics is one of the principal reasons for deforestation and land degradation. Discuss. (250 words)

Q. Sustainable development does not end sustainability of environment and resource system; it also requires sustainability of economic and social systems. Explain. (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by ‘frontier technologies’? Discuss the possible impact of frontier technologies on developing countries like India. (250 words)

Q. Discuss the significance of space power for India. (250 words)

Q. Health and nutrition not only play a vital role in making human life dynamic, capable and prosperous, but it also has the potential to empower, develop and strengthen the nation. Discuss. (250 words)

Q. Right to Education Act, 2009 is a breakthrough in India’s education landscape. Critically Examine. (250 words)

Q. Examine the specificities of Indian culture and society. What are the changes that you observe in society over recent decades? (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by scheduled tribes? Examine the dilemma related to the development of the tribes in India. (250 words)

Essay Topics

a. Geo-economics is the new geopolitics.
b. Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.

You’re a manager at an NGO. Your subordinate has been working in the NGO for five years. Four years ago, his performance was poor because he was undergoing chemotherapy. Since then, it’s improved to average but, in the past few months has declined severely again. He explains that his cancer has recurred and has spread to his lymph nodes, so he’s in the middle of a six-month round of chemotherapy and his prognosis is not good. He says he prefers to keep working but if you terminate him, he won’t file a legal claim. He is his family's sole source of income and his salary is modest and so he has little in savings. What are the options available to you? Point out the pros and cons of each of them.

Q. Examine the following quotation: “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried”.- Winston Churchill (250 words)

Q. Does learning from cultural and civilisational values makes one moral and ethical or rather turns him/her towards orthodox and regressive thinking? Give reasons in support of your answer. (250 words)

Q. The real challenge to India’s food security is poor grain management rather than a shortage of grain production. Comment. (250 words)

Q. Is it a good idea to privatise even the profit-making public sector enterprises? Give reasons in support of your answer. (250 words)

Q. “The reorganisation of States in India is an unfinished task”. Discuss. (250 words)

Q. Discuss the impact of rising US-Iran conflict on India and its international relations. (250 words)

Q. Discuss the evolution of the layered structure of the Earth along with the formation of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.

Q. Did Harappan civilization have any link to other major civilizations and distant lands? What are the findings that point towards such a possibility? (150 words)

Essay Topics

a. Space diplomacy for India
b. Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.

Q. You are a Superintendent of Police in a district where caste-based discrimination is rampant. In a recent case, members from the Dalit community were prevented from cremating the body of an old woman from their community at the public crematorium. People belonging to the dominant upper caste community have destroyed the funeral pyre and have allegedly threatened the family of the deceased.
After the police intervention, the Dalits staged a protest and the body was cremated on the ground in front of the residence of MLA of the region, who also belongs to the dominant community. In the process of investigation, you come to know that not only family members of the MLA but some of your relatives too have been involved in the destruction of the funeral pyre.

1. What will be the possible ethical dilemmas that you might face?
2. What will be your course of action? Justify. (250 words)

Q. "It is important to address not only the physical violence but even the verbal and structural violence, expressed in gender, caste and regional discrimination in order to become a peaceful society." Comment. (250 words)

Q. Do you agree that effective leadership requires power-sharing and participatory decision making? Substantiate your answer with suitable examples. (250 words)

Q. Land reforms in India, are necessary not only to boost agricultural growth but also to eradicate poverty in rural areas. Discuss. (250 words)

Q. Discuss how Artificial Intelligence can be used to meet India’s socio-economic needs. (150 words)

Q. To achieve social justice in society, governments have to do more than just ensure that laws and policies treat individuals in a fair manner. Explain. (250 words)

Q. A welfare state is based on the principles of equality of opportunity and equitable distribution of wealth. Comment. (150 words)

Q. “It was like a hungry man, expecting bread, being offered stones”. Examine the given statement in light of the Rowlatt Act imposed by the British government in 1919, along with its impact. (250 words)