Mains Practice Questions

Q. Pawan is pursuing MBA and shares a room with you in the private hostel. He desperately needs a job after completing his course because of educational loan and weak economic background. In his last two semesters, he couldn’t secure good grades due to serious illness. In current semester he has to secure good marks at any cost to satisfy minimum criteria for placements.

Few days before the final semester exam, he comes to you and asks for money. He is stressed and nervous. He tells you about his plan to purchase semester papers to clear the exam and convinces you for the same by giving reference to his bad health, family status and his education loan.

In such circumstances, would it be right to lend money to him?

(a) Identify the moral dilemma faced by you.

(b) Analyse your role and duties as a friend, also suggest your course of action.

Q. What do you understand by Moral Emotions and what is their role? How are they different from basic emotions? (250 words)

Q. “I do not want my house to be walled in all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. I refuse to live in other people’s houses as an interloper, a beggar or a slave.” Examine. (150 words)

Q. The strengthened grassroots democracy would pave the way for enhanced environmental conservation. Comment. (250 words)

Q. Recent incidences in global politics highlights the trend toward de-globalisation. Briefly explain the implication of de-globalisation policies on India. (250 words)

Q. Criminal Justice System in India (CJSI) has been in a state of peril. Identify the major issues and suggest policy measures to reform the CJSI. (250 words)

Q. Even after having a number of schemes to address malnutrition, malnutrition remains a mighty challenge for India. Discuss. (250 words)

Essay Topics

A. Compassion is the basis of morality.

B. Disadvantaged communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change.

Q. You are the Managing Director of Metro Rail Corporation (MRC) of a metropolitan city and you have received orders and funding for construction of the metro track and a parking space in a densely forested area of the city with houses of few underprivileged families as well in it.
For the construction, the forest has to be cleared and the families have to be moved to some other place. The locals have started a protest after knowing about the order. They are highly raged about cutting down thousands of trees and the affected families have also joined them because the forest holds emotional value for them.
On the other hand, the minister who directly controls the MRC is pressuring you to start the felling process as soon as possible. You know that going against his orders will have serious repercussions.

(a) What are the ethical issues involved and the options available to you in such a situation?

(b) Also, suggest a course of action you would like to follow. (250 words)

Q. What are Mahatma Gandhi’s Eleven Vows and what is their significance in today’s society? (150 words)

Q. “The individual is the one supreme consideration, but also, the good of the individual is contained in the good of all.” Comment. (150 words)

Q. Make in India, which was envisaged to boost manufacturing in India, has failed to meet its objective. Critically examine. (150 words)

Q. Briefly outline the underlying causes for the declining cost of electricity production in recent times. Also, suggest policy measures to reduce the cost further. (250 words)

Q. Should Hindi be Lingua franca for India? Comment in the light of linguistic diversity and cultural significance of languages in India. (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by “Wuhan Spirit”? Examine the reset in India-China relations in the context of Wuhan spirit and Chennai Connect. (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by intrusive forms? Briefly describe various intrusive forms. (250 words)

Q. “It was a firm belief of Gandhiji that in the peaceful struggle of Swaraj, the women of India can outdistance men by a mile.” Comment. (250 words)

Essay Topics

A. A rich, robust, well-resourced public education is one of the best routes out of poverty and a pathway to prosperity.

B. You cannot get rid of poverty by giving people money.

You are posted as an additional superintendent of police in the District. The incidents of lynching over the rumours of child lifting have increased in the state in past few months. 

Recently, one such incident took place at the Government hospital, where two brothers who had taken their nephew to a doctor for treatment were misjudged and attacked by the mob over suspicion of child lifting.

The police rushed to the spot after receiving the information and rescued the brothers. However, one of them was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The deceased person was as a young leader and potential candidate for the upcoming Panchayat elections.

The locals from the nearby village along with the relatives of the deceased person are protesting and accusing police of negligence. They are claiming the incident as a planned political murder and demanding for arrest of the rival candidate who has strong political backing.

(a) Identify the stakeholders and various dimensions of the crisis involved in the issue. 

(b) What would be the course of action taken by you to manage the situation as an additional superintendent of police? Suggest the measures to deal with the incident lynching. (200 words)

Q. There is a need for global standards of ethics, but their application will have to be adapted to local conditions. Comment. (150 words)

Q. Briefly explain the following terms with the help of an example:

(a) Ethical Fading

(b) Fiduciary Duty

(c) Bounded Ethicality

Q. How are cooperative banks are different from scheduled commercial banks? Examine the advantages, challenges of cooperative banks, along with suggestions for their better performance. (250 words)

Q. Higher disposable income for the poor can have positive multiplier effects in the economy. Discuss. (250 words)

Q. Unequal access to the Internet creates and reproduces socio-economic exclusions. Discuss. (250 words)

Q. It takes more than government and courts to address a problem that is driven by human activity and behaviour. Good and effective regulations matter, but the key is cultural and behavioural change.Comment. (250 words)

Q. Discuss the processes through which the earth-atmosphere system maintains heat balance. (150 words)

Q. What do you understand by Uniform Civil Code? Examine its relevance for a secular country like India and challenges in its implementation. (250 words)

Essay Topics

A. The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it.

B. Man makes religion, religion does not make man.

Q. 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 some time 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 you to 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. (250 words)

Q. Do you see a shift in India’s international ethics in light of its non-alignment policy? Give reasons in support of your answer. (150 words)