GS Paper - I Model Answers (2018) - 1 | UPSC Mains Answer Writing: Practice PDF Download

Q1: Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment (UPSC GS1 2018)
Ans: India is unmatchable in terms of having largest and most diverse mixture of traditions and cultures. Its diversity is reflected by tangible and intangible art heritage which is as old as the Indian civilization. India is a cradle of finest cultural symbols of the world which includes architecture, performing arts, classical dance, sculptures, paintings etc. The art heritage of India has a special place among the countries of the globe.
The recognition of Indian art can be gauged from the fact that 29 cultural sites which includes, Ajanta caves, Great living Chola temples, Agra fort, Elephanta caves etc. are on the Tangible Cultural World Heritage list of the UNESCO and more than a dozen elements which includes KumbMela, Yoga, Nawrouz etc. on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO.
With the passage of time cultural significance of India is increasing at the global to the extent of considering culture as the mainstay of the largest democracy in the world. ‘Incredible India’ campaign has risen to higher pedestal owing to the importance given to the cultural heritage of the country. So preserving and protecting art heritage of India that reflects the cultural sensibilities of Indian civilization becomes imperative. 

Some of the factors that make preserving our art heritage imperative include:

• Art as symbol of national identity: Culture and its heritage reflect and shape values, beliefs, and aspirations, thereby defining a people’s national identity. It is important to preserve our cultural heritage, because it keeps our integrity as a people. Our national leaders used cultural symbols to instil sense of oneness 
• Art as an instrument of harmony and social cohesiveness: Art and culture has played an important role in unifying the nation. It has acted as an instrument of harmony and social cohesiveness. 
• Art as symbolic narration of history: Indian art is an immediate expression of Indian civilization as a whole. It represents beliefs and philosophies, ideals and outlooks, the materialized vitality of the society and its spiritual endeavours in varying stages of development – Art represents history and in fact art narrates history of who we are and where we have come from. Monuments, paintings, dance and sculptures are strong reminders of many identities and histories that form our collective consciousness and become an inalienable part of ourselves. For example, the art of painting was widely cultivated in the Gupta period and is best known through the paintings surviving in the Ajanta Caves, and also in the Bagh caves. 
• Art as symbol of harmony with nature: Indian painting, sculpture, architectural ornamentation, and the decorative arts is replete with themes from nature and wildlife reflecting love and reverence, and therefore the ethics of conservation. A wide range of images of forests, plants, and animals are to be found in Indian miniature paintings and sculpture. The theme of the Hindu god Krishna’s life depicted in miniature paintings underlines an appreciation of ecological balance. 
• He is shown persuading people to worship the mountain in order to ensure rainfall. Krishna swallowing the forest fire also signifies a concern for the protection of forests and wildlife. Although art heritage of India has immense value in terms of its historical, national, economical and political significance, many of the art forms and monument building are dissipating from the Indian map rapidly. Protecting and preserving art has become need of the moment given the challenges that have been brought in by industrialization, globalization, modernisation, environmental degradation and automation which has made the traditional arts and crafts outdated for the people. 

Some of the challenges and threats which the traditional arts and heritage of India is facing include: 

• India, with several millennia of history, boasts of a diverse and rich built heritage. Each region of our subcontinent boasts of monumental buildings and remarkable archaeology. Yet, less than 15,000 monuments and heritage structures are legally protected in India—a fraction of the 600,000 protected in the UK. 
• Even those structures considered to be of national/state or local importance in India and protected as such remain under threat from urban pressures, neglect, vandalism and, worse, demolition, only for the value of the land they stand upon. 
• Monuments and arts are protected by central and state agencies which are lacking in staff and expertise. Heritage continues to be the least priority for most governments. Museums and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) remain gravely short-staffed with an inadequate number of licensing and registering officers. 
• Despite the strong legislation, The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, to protect the antiquity of India, the smuggling of Indian art treasure which includes among others sculptures in stone, shrines, terracotta, metals, jewellery, ivory, paintings in paper, wood, cloth, skin, and manuscripts over a hundred years old etc. to the outside country is unabated. 
• According to the National Crime Records Bureau, between 2008 and 2012 a total of 4,408 items were stolen from 3,676 ASI¬-protected monuments across the country, but only 1,493 could be intercepted by police. Overall, around 2,913 items are feared to have been shipped to dealers and auction houses worldwide during this period. 
• According to the National Mission for Monument and Antiquities, there are approximately 7 million antiquities in India. But only 1.3 million had been documented. 
• A report by the Comptroller and Audit General stated in 2013 that the ASI had outlined irregularities in preservation of antiquities by the state and central agencies which includes:
  • No mandatory requirements for inspection by Superintending Archaeologist 
  • Absence of complete and proper documentation of works estimates 
  • Non-preparation of inspection notes after site inspection 
  • Faulty budgeting of works 
  • Delays in work completion
• Indian traditional art and craft gradual seclusion from the larger population and the craft-guilds has affected the cultural sustainability of the country. Due to industrialization Indian traditional art and craft are losing their potential market. 
• Climate change and environmental degradation has adverse impact on the art heritage of India. A study conducted by UNESCO “Study of Environmental Effects on Cultural Property, India’ 1987 has outlined the increasing threat of climate change and atmospheric pollution on Indian artefacts and buildings.

Some of the findings include:

• Copper and bronze objects continue to deteriorate and tarnish even when displayed or stored in a museum. This type of effect is largely due to the pollution present in the atmosphere Increasing pollutants in atmosphere will have drastic impact on the heritage sites of India which includes Taj Mahal, Red Fort of Delhi, and thousands of temples and shrines. 
• All these challenges require an immediate attention and need of the hour is to make a holistic strategy to preserve and protect our cultural heritage.

Some of the steps which could be instrumental in reviving and retaining our art heritage include:

• Tapping of the Public-Private Partnership models for sustenance of arts and crafts. E.g Monument Mitra and Adopt a Heritage Scheme of government. 
• Greater involvement of universities in schemes promoting arts and culture as well as inclusion of Fine Arts as a subject in universities. 
• Preserving and properly promoting India’s rich intangible cultural heritage by inventorizing and documenting oral traditions, indigenous knowledge systems, guru-shishya systems, folklores and tribal and oral traditions and also extending patronage to various dance forms like Bihu, Bhangra, Nautanki, Dandiya and other folk dances besides classical forms Setting up at least one museum in each district with different chambers for visual and other forms of art, architecture, science, history and geography with regional flavour. 
• Enhancing assimilative capabilities in order to adapt to emergent challenges of globalization and technological innovations. 
• Promoting regional languages .
• Making cultural and creative industries work in tandem for growth and employment. 
• Generating demand for cultural goods and services as a matter of sustenance rather than patronage, thus bringing out the art and culture sector in the public domain. 
• The promotion of export of cultural goods and services for taking the country in the list of first 20 countries ranked by UNESCO for export of culture. 
• Recognizing ‘cultural heritage tourism’ as an upcoming industry by building cultural resources with an adaptation of scientific and technological knowledge to local circumstances as well as forming partnerships between local and global bodies.

Q2: Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese and Arab travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India. (UPSC GS1 2018)
Ans: Indian subcontinent was never an isolated geographical area. Since early times, traders, travellers, pilgrims, settlers, soldiers, goods and ideas moved to and fro across its frontiers covering vast distances over land and water. 

It is therefore not surprising that there are many references to India in foreign texts. Such texts reveal how people from other lands viewed India and its people, what they noticed and found worthy of description. 

The accounts of Chinese and Arab travellers who visited India at different stages of India’s past are examples of such corpse of travel accounts. While the Arab travellers were curious of India’s riches and its distinct cultural traditions, the Chinese travellers came to India more often in search of Buddhist scriptures and visiting monasteries. 

Chinese Accounts: Many Chinese monks made long and arduous overland journey to India in order to collect authentic manuscripts of Buddhist texts, meet Indian monks, and visit places of Buddhist learning and pilgrimage. 

The best known among those who wrote accounts of their Indian travels are Faxian (FaHien) and Xuangzang (Hiuen Tsang). Faxian’s travels extended from 399 to 414 CE and were confined to northern India. Xaungzang left his home in 629 CE and spent over 10 years travelling across India. Yijing another 7th century Chinese traveller lived for 10 years in great monastery of Nalanda. 

The importance of these accounts for the construction of India’s past can be understood by underlining that: 

• These throw light on the socio- political conditions of India at that time: For example: – Faxian presents a idyllic and idealized picture of Indian society in the 5th century. He describes a happy and contended people enjoying a life of peace and prosperity. 
• According to him people in India did not have to register their households or appear before magistrates. Farmers who worked on royal land had to give a certain portion of their produce to the king. 
  • Xuangzang gives a vivid description of the beauty, grandeur and prosperity of Kanaunj, the capital of Harsha’s empire in 7th century. His work Si-Yu-Ki throws light on almost all the aspects of Indian life during 7th century. 
• Apart from the account of doctrines and practices of Buddhist monks, stupas, monasteries and pilgrimage sites his account include description of India’s landscape, climate, produce, cities, caste system and various customs of the people. His travel to India and subsequent description of India to his king led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China. 
• Historians and archaeologists have used works and itinerary of Chinese travellers India to trace the location of various Buddhist monasteries across the subcontinent. For example Gordon Mackenzie the British chronicler used extensively the accounts of Xuanzang to trace the Buddhist monasteries in south India. 
• The history of Buddhism in India is extensively documented by these accounts and historians have immensely relied on these accounts to trace development of Buddhism in late ancient and early medieval period of India as well as eventual demise of Buddhism from the land of its origin. 
• For example the accounts of Faxian focuses mainly Buddhist monasteries in various parts of north India, the number of monks and their practices, descriptions of the places of Buddhist pilgrimage and legends associated with them. 
• Therefore the accounts of Chinese travellers are immense importance for the construction of history of Buddhism in the subcontinent, the socio-economic conditions of the late ancient and early medieval India and lastly but very importantly tracing the diplomatic and trading ties between India and China as well as trade along the silk route. 
• Arab Accounts: Arab accounts are useful source of information for early medieval India. The important Arab works on India include the 9th-10th century writings of travellers and geographers such as Sulaiman, Al-Masudi, Al-Biduri and Haukal. Later Arab writers include Al-Biruni, Al-Idrisi, Muhammad Ufi and IbnBatuta. 
• Of all these ‘AlBiruni’s Tahqiq-i-Hind’ and Ibn Batuta’s ‘Rihla’ are outstanding in terms of covering almost all the aspects of Indian life including social, political, economic and religious aspects of the medieval India. 
• Al-Biruni travelled India to satisfy his curiosity about the land and its people and to study their ancient texts in original language. His Taqiq-i-Hind covers a large number of topics including Indian scripts, sciences, geography, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, literature, beliefs, customs, religions, festivals, rituals, social organisation and laws. 
• Apart from the historical value of his descriptions of 11th century India, Al Biruni helped modern historians identify the initial years of the Gupta era. 
• Ibn-Batuta’s book of travels, called Rihla written in Arabic provides extremely rich and interesting details about the social and cultural life in the subcontinent in the fourteenth century. His account provides a vivid description of Indian cities during the medieval times. According to him Indian cities are full of exciting opportunities for those who had necessary drive, resources and skills. They were densely populated and prosperous. 
• Since India and Arabs had developed trading relations in Indian Ocean in early medieval times, the Arab accounts have extensively covered the trade relations between India and Arabs as well as that of Indian Ocean region. Thus, travels accounts can help historians to reconstruct the past by juxtaposing them with other contemporary sources of history such as court chronicles. These accounts become of immense importance given the paucity of historical sources in the early and late medieval India. 
• While as the court chronicles and other sources rarely provide any description of ordinary people, foreign accounts provides an insight into the ordinary lives of the people. Travellers were not the historians. They wrote about what actually attracted them or what was unique to them from the perspective of their own lands. 
• Constructing history out of the foreign accounts needs critical examination and veracity of the respective account, the background of the writer and corroboration of the fact with other existing sources. It is then only historical importance of these sources can be established.

Q3: Throw light on the significance of the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi in the present times. (UPSC MAINS 2018)
Ans:  Mahatma Gandhi the father of our nation was a prolific writer, philosopher, freedom fighter, an advocate by profession and a social activist by nature. He was a visionary and possessed a very powerful mind and hence thought deeply and wrote on basic human issues and problems facing India in those times. Those issues are as relevant today as they were in his time. Therefore significance of the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi is relevant on all those basic human issues and problems which humanity is facing now and then. These issues range from social, political, economic and religious aspects of the society.
Social Issues:

• One of the visible adversaries of the present world is intolerance among societies, countries and cultures. Western world has become apathetic to countries of third world more now than any time in the history. Racial and cultural discrimination is rampant due to the fear of losing ground for to the immigrants in western countries. Middle East is divided in religious and racial lines and is in continuous turmoil. Africa is witnessing the rise of extremism. In our own country India, the danger of intolerance can divide our society and tear our social fabric. 
• Fear and insecurity is the root cause of intolerance as per Gandhi. So he advocated throughout his life the principle of being truthful and fearless. His idea of fearlessness allowed him to be tolerant to varied thoughts and perceptions accommodating diverse sections of the society and at same time come up with a compromise. 
• His ideas of tolerance, compromise and non-violence can serve as an antidote to the present social crises of hatred, terrorism, and racial and religious conflicts across the world. As per Gandhi fear can be triumphed through meditation and strong belief in God. Both these attributes makes a man tolerant and accommodative. 
• The modern man can also take great wisdom from what Gandhi said the seven social sins: Politics without principles; Wealth without work; Commerce without morality; Education without character; Pleasure without conscience; Science without humanity; Worship without sacrifice. All these are very much relevant in the contemporary world than any other time in human history. Political Issue: At the global level, many places in the world have been drastically changed through the use of brute force, by the power of guns such as in the erstwhile Soviet Union, China, Tibet, Burma, and many communist countries in Africa and South America. The Israel-Palestinian war, the Korea war, the rise of ISIS and the ethnic cleansing of minorities in Middle-East and the armed race among the countries are all symptoms failures of the leadership to guide for the goodness of all humanity. 
• Gandhi left many valuable for the modern man to fight for goodness in society in a non-violent way. He considers non-violence a tree that grows slowly, imperceptibly but surely. Goodness along with knowledge courage and conviction can bring wonders to the humankind as per Gandhi. For Gandhi, the process of change was very important which must be ethical, nonviolent and democratic giving rights to all minorities. 
• The idea of inter-dependence at the international level propounded by Gandhi holds relevance of immense importance today. No country in the world is efficient enough to tackle the global challenges of environmental degradation, poverty, terrorism, etc. single headedly. Collaboration and cooperation among the nations can be only means to move ahead and made some progress in these matters. 
• At domestic level, the idea of gram swaraj propounded by Gandhi has found resonance through constitutional validity of panchayats and municipalities. Gandhi believed that villages are the real India and if India is to move forward and make impressions on world, villages would have to be made as fundamental units for development. The policy changes since last three decades to decentralize governance and politics are resonating the idea of Gandhi on Gram Swaraj. 
• Moreover Gandhi’s Idea of politics without principle is a sin should be a lesson to the political class to up hold their integrity and work for the progress of all ‘Sarvodaya’ the term used by him. 
• Gandhi’s views about sanitation or women empowerment or need for basic education for all, is relevant. Make in India is nothing but self-sufficiency as emphasised by Gandhi.

Economic issues:

• Materialistically world has progressed a lot since last century. But the progress and the fruits of development are unevenly distributed both vertically and horizontally. Inequality is rampant all over the world. India today has the unique distinction of being the only country in the world which has the richest man in the world while at the same time more than 30 per cent of its population lives in dire poverty. 
• Statistics show that the country is definitely not following ‘sarvodaya’ a broad Gandhian term meaning ‘universal upliftment’ or ‘progress of all’ reaching the masses and the downtrodden. As per Gandhi ‘Poverty is the worst form of violence’. 
• Gandhi’s idea of uplifting and empowering poor is first key towards realising the inclusive and sustainable development. 
• The Sustainable Development Goals of eradicating poverty, hunger free world, eliminating illiteracy, gender equality, dignity of labour, employment opportunity and better healthcare are goals resonating the ideas and goals of Gandhi which he cherished throughout his life.

Thus, it can be said that Gandhi was the leader of the past runs into the present and marches towards the future. He had always been a leader of the time ahead. His thoughts are relevant and important today more than ever before.

Q4: Why is Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) needed? How does it help in navigation? (UPSC GS1 2018)
Ans: The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NAVIC is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system that provides accurate real-time positioning and timing services. It covers India and a region extending 1,500 km (930 mi) around it, with plans for further extension.
Objective of Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System: 

• The objective of the project is to implement an independent and indigenous regional space borne navigation system for national applications. 
• For long India, like many other countries, had been dependent on the services that were being rendered by the foreign navigation systems. The usage and availability of satellite data depended largely upon how good relations were maintained with said countries.This technological dependency brought with it the grave vulnerability especially in the case of hostile situations. 
• The immediate reason to initiate indigenous navigation capabilities was Kargil War in 1999, when USA denied India access to vital satellite based information. 
• Before the launch of IRNSS, the availability so far of the satellite data was without any contractual services obligation that gave an easy escape for such service provider to withdraw their services at any point of time. 
• The system is expected to provide accurate real-time position, velocity and time observables for users on a variety of platforms with a 24 hour x 7 day service availability under all weather conditions How does it help in navigation? 
• The IRNSS design requirements call for a position accuracy of < 20 m throughout India and within the region of coverage extending about 1500 km beyond. 
• The system is expected to provide accurate real-time position, velocity and time observables for users on a variety of platforms with a 24 hour x 7 day service availability under all weather conditions 
• It give real time information for 2 services i.e. standard positioning service open for civilian use and Restricted service which may be encrypted for authorised user like for military. 
• It will help to mitigate the disaster effects by providing information of disaster timing, safe location and also help the disaster relief management to make earlier plans and save the lives of people in India as well as up to 1500 km around it.  
• It will help the mariners for far navigation and fisherman for get information about the valuable fisheries location and any disturbance in Sea. It will help to make friendly relations with others countries by providing real time information during any calamity or disaster for mitigates its after effect and for making early plans. 
• Hence, India has become one of the 5 countries having their own navigation system like GPS of USA, GLONASS of Russia, Galileo of Europe and BeiDu of China. So India dependence on other countries for navigation purposes has reduced on significant level.

Q5: Why is India taking keen interest in the Arctic region? (UPSC GS1 2018)
Ans: Although India may be far from the Arctic region physically, yet the impact of melting of the Arctic ice on the global climate is likely to be significant. India also understands the geo-strategic importance of the Arctic region. 

Importance of arctic region for India: 

• To study monsoon pattern: To study the hypothesized tele-connections between the Arctic climate and the Indian monsoon by analyzing the sediment and ice core records from the Arctic glaciers and the Arctic Ocean. 
• To characterize sea ice in Arctic using satellite data to estimate the effect of global warming in the northern polar region. 
• To conduct research on the dynamics and mass budget of Arctic glaciers focusing on the effect of glaciers on sea-level change. 
• To carry out a comprehensive assessment of the flora and fauna of the Artic vis-à-vis their response to anthropogenic activities. In addition, it is proposed to undertake a comparative study of the life forms from both the Polar Regions. 
• For exploration of hydrocarbons: The opening of the sea routes and the exploration of hydrocarbons present economic opportunities which Indian companies can also exploit. 
• China’s ability to navigate the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is another factor in India’s military strategy in that region. 
• Observer role of India Arctic Council: India which has a significant expertise in this area from its association with the Antarctic Treaty System can play a constructive role in securing a stable Arctic. India in its new role as a permanent observer in the Arctic Council is committed to contribute to the deliberations of the council to develop effective cooperative partnerships that can contribute to a safe, stable and secure Arctic. 
• India cannot remain immune from the developments in the region even though the area is remote and far away. India has a long tradition of polar research. It maintains a permanent research station in Svalbard. On the negative side, the enhancement of economic activity in the Arctic Region will accelerate global warming and lead to large sea level rise impacting the global climate to which India cannot remain indifferent.

Q6: Define mantle plume and explain its role in plate tectonics. (UPSC GS1 2018)
Ans: A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth’s mantle. It is a large column of hot rock rising through the mantle. The heat from the plume causes rocks in the lower lithosphere to melt. The largest (and most persistent) mantle plumes are presumed to form where a large volume of mantle rock is heated at the core-mantle boundary, about 1,800 miles below the surface, although smaller plumes may originate elsewhere within the mantle. Once the temperature increases sufficiently to lower the rock density, a column of the hotter-than-normal rock starts to rise very slowly through the surrounding mantle rocks.
Role of mantle plume in plate tectonics: 

• The rising column of hot rock reaches the base of the lithosphere, where it spreads out, forming a mushroom-shaped cap to the plume. The overlying lithosphere is pushed up and stretched out as the plume cap spreads. Heat transferred from the plume raises the temperature in the lower lithosphere to above melting point, and magma chambers form that feed volcanoes at the surface. 
• Because the plume remains anchored at the core-mantle boundary, it does not shift position over time. So, as the lithospheric plate above it moves, a string of volcanoes (or other volcanic features) is created. 
• The material and energy from Earth’s interior are exchanged with the surface crust in two distinct modes: the predominant, steady state plate tectonic regime driven by upper mantle convection, and a punctuated, intermittently dominant, mantle overturn regime driven by plume convection. This second regime, while often discontinuous, is periodically significant in mountain building and continental breakup. 
• When a plume head encounters the base of the lithosphere, it is expected to flatten out against this barrier and to undergo widespread decompression melting to form large volumes of basalt magma. It may then erupt onto the surface. 
• Numerical modelling predicts that melting and eruption will take place over several million years. These eruptions have been linked to flood basalts, although many of those erupt over much shorter time scales (less than 1 million years). Examples include the Deccan traps in India, the Siberian traps of Asia, etc. 
• The eruption of continental flood basalts is often associated with continental rifting and breakup. This has led to the hypothesis that mantle plumes contribute to continental rifting and the formation of ocean basins. In the context of the alternative “Plate model”, continental breakup is a process integral to plate tectonics, and massive volcanism occurs as a natural consequence when it onsets. 
• Thus, mantle plumes are thought to be strong enough to induce rifting and the formation of plates. The relationship between plate- and plume-tectonics is considered in view of the growth and breakdown of supercontinents, active rifting, the formation of passive volcanic-type continental margins, and the origin of time-progressive volcanic chains on oceanic and continental plates.