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Q.11. Indian Philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and their art in India. Discuss. (Answer in 250 words)

Introduction
The philosophical support of art is traditional. It represents the complete fusions and synthesis of the consciousness for art and beauty that had been expressed in the very beginning of philosophy and it is continuous to the present day in different forms. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy devoted to conceptual and theoretical enquiry into art

Body
(Relate various art forms and philosophy reflected in them ,may also use table to express them)

Literature (Vedic philosophy)
Vedic thought was further developed in other later texts (sometimes termed the Smṛti Literature), the most popular and important of which are the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyana. While hese are generally epic narratives, they include philosophical themes, and in some sections, are purely focused on philosophical exposition. The Bhagavad Gītā is the most influential of these philosophical discussions.[14] One of the key ideas in these works is the ethics of caste (varna) and life station (āśrama) and how this ethic relates to Dharma, yoga and mokṣa. The Bhagavad Gītā presents these ideas alongside the idea of svadharma

Dance
Theme of South Indian classical music is to refine one’s soul and body through discipline, and to make one sensitive to the infinite within one, to unite one’s breath with the breath of space and to unite one’s inner vibration with the vibration of the cosmos.  The Bharatanatyam recital celebrates multiple truths embracing diversity and its universal acceptance..

Music
Carnatic music is considered spiritual and one that can elevate the individual, both intellectually and emotionally. The lyrics are mainly based on religious themes and talk about various Hindu philosophies. Carnatic music on its own merit, is a separate entity, and the music itself can be considered to be the supreme way to become one with God. The concept of worshipping through music practice is known as Nadopasana. Carnatic music can not only evoke all the nine emotions mentioned in literature, but can also be experienced bereft of these common emotions. As it is, this music is both intellectual and entertaining, and appeal to both the qualities of the head and the hear

Tandava Dance or the NAtaraja Bronze Sculpture

Shiva embodies those perfect physical qualities as he is frozen in the moment of his dance within the cosmic circle of fire that is the simultaneous and continuous creation and destruction of the universe. The ring of fire that surrounds the figure is the encapsulated cosmos of mass, time, and space, whose endless cycle of annihilation and regeneration moves in tune to the beat of Shiva’s drum and the rhythm of his steps.

Temple Architechture
The artwork on the temples of Khajuraho symbolically highlight the four goals and necessary pursuits and goals of human life as per Hinduism: Charvaka (Brihaspati): Charvaka is a materialistic, sceptical and atheistic school of thought. According to Charvaka there is no other world. Hence, death is the end of humans & pleasure is the ultimate object in life.

• Dharma (righteousness) – represented by the duties of a human in their daily life
• Kama (desire) – represented by erotic sculptures and sensual fulfilment in human life
• Artha (purpose) – represented by the economic activities to make a living
• Moksha (liberation) – represented by the diety inside the temple. Only after passing through the above stages (dharma, Kama and Artha) and leaving them behind, a human is eligible for attaining self-realisation or moksha. The temple symbolically represents dharma, kama, Artha on the outer walls. Only after a circular walk around the temple can one enter inside the temple to worship the god.

Yoga literally means the union of two principal entities. Yogic techniques control body, mind & sense organs, thus considered as a means of achieving freedom or mukti.This freedom could be attained by practising self-control (yama), observation of rules (niyama), fixed postures (asana), breath control (pranayama), choosing an object (pratyahara) and fixing the mind (dharna), concentrating on the chosen object (dhyana) and complete dissolution of self, merging the mind and the object (Samadhi).Yoga admits the existence of God as a teacher and guide.Has become a tradition inindia and practised all over the world

Nyaya (Gautama Muni)
Nyaya Philosophy states that nothing is acceptable unless it is in accordance with reason and experience (scientific approach). Nyaya is considered as a technique of logical thinking.Nyaya Sutras say that there are four means of attaining valid knowledge: perception, inference, comparison, and verbal testimony. This philosophy was quoted by thiruvalluvar in thirukuralAnd an urgent need in era of ict where fake news surround us

Buddhist philosophy (Siddhartha Gautama)
Buddhism is a non-theistic philosophy whose tenets are not especially concerned with the existence or nonexistence of God. Buddha considered the world as full of misery and considered a man’s duty to seek liberation from this painful world. He strongly criticized blind faith in the traditional scriptures like the Vedas, is expressed as Ajanta painting and jataka tales in railings of stupa

Conclusion
Philosophies in India were not only a teaching but it was a way of that passes across generation and influences the worlds, for instance Nataraja statue in CERN is an expression of Indian philosophy, science and life

Q.12. Persian Literary sources of medieval India reflect the spirit of the age. Comment. (Answer in 250 words)

Introduction

Persian language that came from Iran by the arab invasion, expression of the history art and the culture where in the language as it was one of the court language in medieval times Chronicles commissioned by the Mughal emperors are an important source for studying the empire and its court.

The authors of Mughal chronicles were invariably courtiers. The famous chronicles are Akbar Nama, Shahjahan Nama and Alamgir Nama.

Turkish was the mother tongue of Mughals, but it was Akbar who made Persian the leading language of Mughal court.

Persian became Indianised by absorbing local idioms. Urdu sprang from the interaction of Persian with Hindavi.

All books in Mughal India were handwritten manuscripts and were kept in Kitabkhana .i.e. scriptorium.

The creation of a manuscript involved paper makers, scribes or calligraphers, gilders, painters, bookbinders, etc. calligraphy styles of Persian language emerged and reflected in the biographies paintings and even in monuments one such calligraphy style was the nastaliq, a fluid style with long horizontal strokes.

Muhammad Husayn of Kashmir was one of the finest calligraphers at Akbar’s court who was honoured with the title ‘ZarrinKalam’ (Golden pen).

Akbar Nama and the Badshah Nama
The Akbar Nama written by Abu’lFazl is divided into three books, of which the third one is Ain-i Akbari which provided a detailed description of Akbar’s regime.

The Badshah Nama was written by Abul Hamid Lahori about the reign of Shahjahan

Q.13. Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ideological strands and thereby expanded its social base. Discuss (Answer in 250 words) 

Introduction
Focus on how post-1920s was an evolution of INM and it led to spectrum of ideas from left to right expanding its social phase which was largely educated middle-class until now (with exception of Swadeshi movement).

Body
Here bring all different ideology emerging post-1920s with support of new social bases in INM with positive or negative impacts.

• Gandhism: Ideas based on non-violence, truth appealed to common masses and more so women.
• Royism/Communism: Led by M N Roy and other leaders its focus on freedom of labour and peasants sought to include them in movement.
• Socialism: A new crop of leaders within Congress (Bose, Nehru, J P Narayan etc.) sought to broaden the idea of an equal society with role for almost all class
• Revolutionary idea with traits of socialism: Bhagat Singh (HSRA) brough more youths
• Capitalism: Emergence of indigenous capitalist class (Ex- Birla, tataetc) sought their restrained role in national movement through support to Congress
• Islamist nationalism: New youth disenchanted with the British rule and treatment to Khalifa supported nationalism and broadening INM as seen in Muslims huge participation in NCM. But later on it developed into an idea of separate nation led by Jinnah.
• Communalism: British divide and Rule yielded results with communalism dividing movement and weakening it time to time.
• Ambedkarism or idea of marginalised liberation: It developed in parallel with INM where both British and Indian elite were considered exploiter, thus a united movement by marginalised as well gaining concession from the government was approach.

Conclusion
Conclude on how various ideologies broadened movement while also creating challenges at times. But it also reflected Indian culture of diversity. 

Q.14 The interlinking of rivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problem of droughts, floods and interrupted navigation. Critically examine (Answer in 250 words)

Introduction: The idea behind the interlinking of rivers is that many parts of the country face problems of drought while many others face the problem of flooding every year.

As of now, six ILR projects — the Ken-Betwa, Damanganga- Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga, Mahanadi-Godavari and Godavari-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) — have been under examination of the authorities.

• The Ken-Betwa ILR is India’s first such project.
• With regard to the peninsular rivers, the Centre has chosen to focus on the Godavari-Cauvery link rather than the earlier proposal to link the Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery rivers.

Body
National River Linking Project (NRLP)  envisages the transfer of water from the water-excess basin to the water-deficient basin by interlinking 37 rivers of India by a network of almost 3000 storage dams. This will form a gigantic South Asian water grid.

There are two components to this project:

• Himalayan Component
• Peninsular Component
• Benefits of River Interlinking

There are many benefits that the proposed interlinking projects will bring about. They are discussed below:

• Interlinking rivers is a way to transfer excess water from the regions which receive a lot of rainfall to the areas that are drought-prone. This way, it can control both floods and droughts.
• This will also help solve the water crisis in many parts of the country.
• The project will also help in hydropower generation. This project envisages the building of many dams and reservoirs. This can generate about 34000 MW of electricity if the whole project is executed.
• The project will help in dry weather flow augmentation. That is when there is a dry season, surplus water stored in the reservoirs can be released. This will enable a minimum amount of water flow in the rivers. This will greatly help in the control of pollution, in navigation, forests, fisheries, wildlife protection, etc.
• Indian agriculture is primarily monsoon-dependent. This leads to problems in agricultural output when the monsoons behave unexpectedly. This can be solved when irrigation facilities improve. The project will provide irrigation facilities in water-deficient places.
• The project will also help commercially because of the betterment of the inland waterways transport system.
• Moreover, the rural areas will have an alternate source of income in the form of fish farming, etc.
• The project will also augment the defence and security of the country through the additional waterline defence.

Issues and Concerns

1. Ecological issues
One of the major concerns is that rivers change their course in 70–100 years and thus once they are linked, future change of course could create huge practical problems for the project.

2. Aqua life
A number of leading environmentalists are of the opinion that the project could be an ecological disaster. There would be a decrease in downstream flows resulting in reduction of fresh water inflows into the seas seriously jeopardizing aquatic life.

3. Deforestation
Creation of canals would need large areas of land resulting in large scale deforestation in certain areas.

4. Areas getting submerged
Possibility of new dams comes with the threat of large otherwise habitable or reserved land getting submerged under water or surface water. Fertile deltas will be under threat, with coastal erosion expected to threaten the land and livelihoods of local economies that support 160 million people.

5. Displacement of people
As large strips of land might have to be converted to canals, a considerable population living in these areas must need to be rehabilitated to new areas.

6. Dirtying of clean water
As the rivers interlink, rivers with dirty water will get connected to rivers with clean water, hence dirtying the clean water.

7. Disrupting of ecological flow
On implementation, water discharge in 23 out of 29 rivers will reduce considerably, they say. The Ganga will see a 24% decrease in flow. Its tributaries Gandak (-68%) and Ghagra (-55%) will be the worst affected. While the Brahmaputra will see only a 6% loss, its tributaries will see massive flow reductions: Manas (-73%), Sankosh (-72%) and Raidhak (-53%). Changes in water flow and trapping of silt in reservoirs will see a dip in the sediment deposited by rivers.

Conclusion/ Way Forward
Water is the essence of life. It is something that cannot be created by man. Therefore, the management of available water resources is essential to meet the demands of growing population. Towards this endeavour, the government has initiated the ILR Programme.

As pointed out by the Draft National Water Framework Bill, 2016, equity component of access to water should be given prime importance while choosing the beneficiaries of the programme.

• There is a considerable disagreement between the states on the ILR. While Tamil Nadu is in its favour, Assam, Kerala and Sikkim may oppose it due to the loss of water resources.
• Hence, it is the responsibility of the Union Government to build consensus on the programme in order to avoid strains in federal relations. For this, the Parliament is the most appropriate platform.
• Principles of surplus should be laid down instead of legal definition of surplus which has different perspectives among stakeholders and environmentalists.
• Necessary legal framework should be prepared in the form of MoUs and agreements to ensure cooperation of neighbouring countries that have sovereign rights over the Himalayan river waters.

Q15. Account for the huge flooding of the million cities in India including the smart ones like Hyderabad and Pune. Suggest lasting remedial measures. (Answer in 250 words) 

Introduction: Mention about rapidly increasing urbanization along with million cities and smart cities. According to the 2011 census, there were 46 million-plus cities in India. Recent flood like situation in Mumbai leading to disruption in civic life.
Body: Flood is defined as “an overflow of a large body of water over areas not usually inundated”. Thus, flooding in urban areas is caused by intense and/or prolonged rainfall, which overwhelms the capacity of the drainage system.

Causes of urban flooding

Impact of Urban Flooding

Impact on Human:

• Loss of life & physical injury
• Increased stress; psychological trauma

Disease outbreak

• Contamination of water supplies leading to diseases
• Rise in mosquito borne diseases

Impact on Economy

• Damage to buildings, roads and other infrastructures
• Disruptions to industrial production
• Disruptions to utility supplies
• Impact on heritage or archaeological site
• Post-disaster rescue and rehabilitation adds to financial burden of the government

Impact on Transport and Communication

• Increased traffic congestion, disruption in rail services
• Disruption in communication- on telephone, internet cables

Impact on environment

• Loss of tree cover, loss of habitat
• Impact on animals in zoo, stray animals

Remedial Measures

• Creation of sponge cities.
• Green roofs and rooftop gardens to harvest rainwater.
• Creation of flood plains and overflow areas for rivers.
• Sustainable drainage, Permeable sidewalks and gardens.
• Proper planning for rainwater management.
• Improve flood warning mechanisms.
• Climate Change adaptation & Paris Agreement.
• Sustainable Development.

Q.16. India has immense potential of solar energy through there are regional variations in its development. Elaborate (Answer in 250 words)

Introduction
Energy is a critical element of development of a nation. Solar energy based on radiation from sunlight is used as electricity or thermal energy through photovoltaic cells, solar heater etc. It has come to form an indispensable component of India’s as well as world’s energy needs. particularly amidst aim for sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Body
Why is solar energy preferred?

Abundant and replenishable: According to the Ministry of Renewable Energy, theoretically, a small fraction of incidence solar energy can meet the country’s power demands.

Cleaner: It does not generate pollution and can be the world’s future in terms of energy if it seeks to control global warming.

Low running costs compared to thermal and other power plants.

Cheaper: According to the The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) estimates the cost of solar energy which is already falling will be Rs 2.30 /unit by 2030.

Advantages/Potential for India in solar energy

• Climate: India, a tropical country, receives sunlight for almost 300 days. Around 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is incident over India’s land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, and West Bengal have great potential for tapping solar energy due to their location.
• Upscaling in capacity: India changed its 2022 target of solar energy from 20 GW to 100 GW due to quick progress in it.
• Energy Security: With fossil-based energy dependency (Around 80%), solar energy with the installed capacity of 35.12 GW has emerged as a potential alternative in diversifying India’s energy basket.
• Suits energy demand of India: Decentralized nature of solar energy distribution suits unreachable areas and brings to them electricity and energy. Ex- by the end of 2015 just under one million solar lanterns were sold in the country, reducing the need for kerosene.
• Leadership opportunity: With India-France coming together for the International Solar alliance (ISA), it gives India scope for leadership in a world looking for a sustainable

However the Regional Variations in  solar energy and challenges India faces in sector:

• High upfront investment: With solar energy still an emerging sector investor is worried about the initial cost which is very high initially. Capital investments vary from states to states.
• Intermittent nature: It is not a continuous supply (During night and bad weather). Southern states and regions in the tropical belt receive continuous supply of sunlight compared to northern states
• Import dependency: India is largely dependent on imports (MainlyChina) for solar polar manufacture.
• Space constraints: High population density in areas of UP and Bihar creates issues in land availability w.r.t potential of solar energy. Even in rooftop solar there has been slow progress (Till October 2019, only 1.82 GW of rooftop solar capacity has been installed), because people don’t wish to lose open spaces.
• Storage challenges: Lack of development of high-end technology for storage and transmitting it to long distances has emerged as one of the biggest issues.

Conclusion/Way Forward

• Development of solar park and ultra-mega solar power park to ensure economy of scale.
• KUSUM scheme with the aim of promoting solar power in villages with extra source of income and water availability for farmers.
•  International Solar Alliance for international cooperation in finance and technology with secretariat at Gurgaon.
• The Parliamentary Committee on energy recommended simplifying and speeding up the process of subsidy disbursement and increasing awareness, particularly for rooftop solar projects.
• Public procurement should be promoted with high priority and unutilized public spaces to be used for solar power generation. Ex-Stranded or unutilized land of Railways. 

Q.17. Examine the Status of Forest Resources of India and its resultant impact on Climate Change

Introduction: The 16th biennial assessment of India’s forests by Forest Survey of India, an organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

Body

Key Findings

• The Total Forest and Tree cover is 24.56% of the geographical area of the country.
  • The Total Forest cover is 7,12,249sq km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country.
  • The Tree cover is 2.89% of the geographical area of the country.
• As compared to ISFR 2017 the current assessment shows an increase of
  • 0.65% of forest and tree cover put together, at the national level
  • 0.56% of forest cover
  • 1.29% of tree cover
• Change in Recorded forest Area/Green Wash (RFA/GW) as compared to previous assessment of 2017.
  • Forest cover within the RFA/GW: a slight decrease of 330 sq km (0.05%)
  • Forest cover outside the RFA/GW: there is an increase of 4,306 sq km.
• The top five States (UT) in terms of increase in forest cover: Karnataka>Andhra Pradesh>Kerala>Jammu & Kashmir>Himachal Pradesh.
• Forest cover in the hill districts is 40.30% of the total geographical area of these districts. An increase of 544 sq km (0.19%) in 140 hill districts of the country.
• The total forest cover in the tribal districts is 37.54% of the geographical area of these districts.
• Total forest cover in the North Eastern region is 65.05% of its geographical area. The current assessment shows a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45%) in the region. Except Assam and Tripura, all the States in the region show decrease in forest cover.
• Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 1.10% as compared to the previous assessment.
• Wetlands cover 3.83% of the area within the RFA/GW of the country. Amongst the States, Gujarat has the largest area of wetlands within RFA in the country followed by West Bengal.
• Dependence of fuelwood on forests is highest in the State of Maharashtra, whereas, for fodder, small timber and bamboo, dependence is highest in Madhya Pradesh.
• It has been assessed that the annual removal of the small timber by the people living in forest fringe villages is nearly 7% of the average annual yield of forests in the country.

Impact of climate change on Indian forests

• Changes in the distribution of forests: Carbon dioxide is required for photosynthesis, the process by which green plants use sunlight to grow. Given sufficient water and nutrients, increases in atmospheric CO2 may enable trees to be more productive, which may change the distribution of tree species.
• Impact on NPP: The NPP tends to increase over India., the Himalayan dry temperate forests and subalpine and alpine forests register maximum increase in NPP. The subtropical dry evergreen forests register the lowest increase in NPP.
• Impact on soil organic carbon (SOC). Tropical moist deciduous forests and sub-alpine and alpine forests are projected to have large (40–45%) increases in SOC. In contrast subtropical pine forests and Himalayan moist temperate forests have much smaller increases (20–30%) in SOC.
• Implication at the state level: Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh experience the largest percentage change in forested grids at 73 %, 67%, 62% and 49% respectively while Northeastern states experience the least amount of changes in forested grids.
• A vulnerability index for Indian forests: Forests in India are already subjected to multiple stresses including over extraction, insect outbreaks, live-stock grazing, forest fires and other anthropogenic pressures. Climate change will be an additional stress.
• Impact on forest growth and productivity due to increases in temperature, changes in precipitation, and increases in carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Forests are one of the most important solutions to addressing the effects of climate change. Approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, one-third of the CO₂ released from burning fossil fuels, is absorbed by forests every year. Therefore increasing and maintaining forests is an essential solution to climate change.

Influence of forests on Climatic Conditions

• Influence on Air Temperature: Forest vegetation reduces mean annual temperature.  Forests lower the daily maximum of air temperature and raise the daily minimum.
• Influence on Local Precipitation: The influence of forests on local precipitation at low elevation is negligible but their influence increases rapidly with increase in elevation particularly in mountainous regions.
• Influence on Atmospheric Humidity: The effect of forest vegetation in the relative humidity of the air appears to vary considerably in different localities. Evaporation from snow surface in the open may be four times as rapid as from similar surface protected by a forest cover
• Influence on Transpiration Loss: A large part of the water absorbed by vegetation is taken from the soil, enters the transpiration current and is returned to the air through the leaves.
• Influence on Soil:The beneficial influence of forest vegetation on soil is due to its beneficial effect and its power of increasing fertility of the land by adding nutrients.
• Influence on Seepage and Water Retention: Forest vegetation, by reducing surface runoff, increase the amount of water that percolates into a soil.
• Influence on Wind and water Erosion
• Influence on Springs: Part of the water that seeps into soil at higher elevations reappears at the surface lower down in springs. A forest through its influence in increasing seepage and decreasing, surfaces runoff provides a large supply of ground water, particularly in mountainous and hilly region.
• Influence on Floods: Forests, in reducing surface runoff and increasing seepage, extend the time over which precipitation reaches as streams.

Q.18 Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalization? Justify your answer. ( 250 words, 15 marks).

Globalization is a process of increasing interdependence, interconnectedness and integration of economies and societies to such an extent that an event in one part of the globe affects people in other parts of world.

Effects of globalisation on Indian Society:

Linguistic culture:
Influence of transnational corporations dominated English language over regional languages and minority languages. For eg: Families in urban areas often use English language in their day to day communication
However, it has led Indians to excel in the services sector of the country

Caste System:

• Relaxed norms of socializing, intermingling, intercaste marriages.
• Expansion of economic opportunities and breakdown of traditional division of labour led to social mobility.
• But, caste system shows resilience in terms of exploitation of the vulnerable caste groups.
• Lack of skills among the lower caste people has pushed in informalization of workforce,

Religious System

• Increased prosperity have influenced the materialistic aspects of religion.
• Spread of religious ideas through migration. For eg – the rise of spiritual affiliation in western countries
• Clash of civilizations, wherein religious consciousness is on rise due to negative influence of other religious aspects.
• Also, globalization led to the questioning of exploitative traditions like Deva-Dasi, Triple Talaq.

Food Culture

• New cuisines like Chinese food and Italian cuisine are dominating the chain of restaurants.
• Lifestyle changes due to consumption of junk foods like pizza, burger, etc
• Franchise food culture like McDonald, KFC has homogenized the eating habits across world.

Clothing Culture

• Traditional dresses has become a symbol of ceremony while western clothing patterns dominate everyday life.
• The rise in denim culture can be seen across regions, gender and demography,

Family and Marriage

• Decline in joint family pattern, dominance of nuclear families. Modern thoughts like live in culture has also been recognised by the Supreme Court in the famous Kanniammal case.
• Familial celebrations have been added by the Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Daughter’s Day etc.
• The concept of dual income family wherein women also earns, has changed the role performance of men and women.
• Increased in concept of love marriages.
• Web based marriage alliance system has become a common phenomenon.
• The pandemic has seen the rise of live streaming of marriages and even virtual marriage due to technological influence.

Homogenization of culture
The process of rising global interconnectedness and interdependence has led to standardization and uniformization of culture across the world.

• Change in family structure and Rise in retirement homes and community culture.
• Homogenization in food and clothing (discussed above)
• Homogenization in teaching methods like smart classrooms, virtual learning apps.
• Homogenization of English Language For Eg: 196 Indian languages are in danger of extinction, according to UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing (UNESCO 2009).
• Homogenization of Yoga across world is a contribution from Indian land.
• Homogenization in values and rights like democracy, scientific temper, rationality, human rights, child rights, banking culture.

Glocalization of culture

Globalization + Localization = Glocalization.

• glocalization campaigns involve culturally friendly media and ad campaigns to encourage the acceptance of foreign products among a local audience.
• Examples: Indian version of Amazon, Yahoo etc
• The translation of bestselling books into local languages.
• The dubbing of movies in local languages For eg, The Lion King ha been dubbed in regional languages like hindi, tamil, etc
• Indian version of global cuisine for eg, adding spices and masalas to noodles, pastas,etc.
• Glocalized saree draping is a rising fashion theme. i.e, multiple ways of wearing sarees.
• Phonetics of English language is often based on the speech sounds of local languages.

Revival of Culture

• Demand for handmade arts and crafts in global market.
• Spread of Yoga

The emphasis of traditional medicines like Ayurveda, Siddha etc

Education
India is a rapidly changing country in which inclusive, high-quality education is of utmost importance for its future prosperity. The country is currently in a youth bulge phase. It has the largest youth population in the world—a veritable army of 600 million young people under the age of 25

Pros

• introduction of computer-mediated learning has revolutionized the teaching and learning process
• possible to interact more effectively across cultural boundaries. Sharing information and collaborating with others has proven to be a revolution in education.
• Skills for global Economy: The quest among students to learn new skills like coding, designing, etc makes them to participate in global employment scenario.
• Changes in curriculum: Wider elements and wider perspectives of study enriches the knowledge of students.
• Quest for international ranking of institutions repeatedly enforces quality enrichment in the education.

Cons

• Globalization poses challenges like faculty shortage, infrastructural constraints in India.
• Marketization of education has led to inequality and compensation of quality of education especially in the higher education sector
• Homogenization of western education in India, induced by international rankings like PISA
• Brain drain ,is serious issue which hampers India’s development.
• Value erosion is a concern.
• Mushrooming of private online content creators in education is often misleading. For example, the learn to code campaign.

The effect of globalization in India is almost a double edged sword. Globalization, though brought in many westernized thoughts and practices it had a major impact on all spheres of Indian society Viz, cultural, social, economical etc which are many a times proves to be detrimental in nature. 

Q.19. Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree? ( 250 words, 15 marks).

Third Millennium Development Goal aims to empower women. Despite serious efforts, process of women empowerment has been lagging behind the target rate.

There are various examples from day to day where we come across many incidences that hinders the empowerment of women. One among them is customs and traditions.

Dimensions

Marriage:

• Most of the average Indian woman’s life is spent in marriage; many women are still married before the legal age of 18, and the incidence of non-marriage is low in India.
• Childbearing and raising children are the priorities of early adulthood for Indian women. Thus, if they enter the workforce at all, it is far later than Indian men. Women also have to settle for jobs that comply with their obligations as wives, mothers, and homemakers.

Clothing
Another issue that concerns women is the dress code expected of them. Islam requires both men and women to dress modestly. This concept is known as hijab and covers a wide interpretation of behavior and garments. There is mixed opinion among feminists over extremes of externally imposed control. Women from other religions are also expected to follow dress codes.

Land and property rights

• In most Indian families, women do not own any property in their own names, and do not get a share of parental property.
• Due to weak enforcement of laws protecting them, women continue to have little access to land and property.
• In India, women’s property rights vary depending on religion, and tribe, and are subject to a complex mix of law and custom, but in principle the move has been towards granting women equal legal rights, especially since the passing of The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.
• The Hindu personal laws of 1956 (applying to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains) gave women rights to inheritances.
• However, sons had an independent share in the ancestral property, while the daughters’ shares were based on the share received by their father. Hence, a father could effectively disinherit a daughter by renouncing his share of the ancestral property, but a son would continue to have a share in his own right. Additionally, married daughters, even those facing domestic abuse and harassment, had no residential rights in the ancestral home.
• In 1986, the Supreme Court of India ruled that Shah Bano, an elderly divorced Muslim woman, was eligible for alimony. However, the decision was opposed by fundamentalist Muslim leaders, who alleged that the court was interfering in their personal law. The Union Government subsequently passed the Muslim Women’s (Protection of Rights Upon Divorce) Act.
• Similarly, Christian women have struggled over the years for equal rights in divorce and succession. In 1994, all churches, jointly with women’s organizations, drew up a draft law called the Christian Marriage and Matrimonial Causes Bill. However, the government has still not amended the relevant laws. In 2014, the Law Commission of India has asked the government to modify the law to give Christian women equal property rights.

Religion

Sabarimala temple entry case
As per traditions and customs, women between 10 and 50 years of age were not allowed to enter into Sabarimala Temple.

But the situation changed when the Supreme Court on September 28, 2018, ruled that restricting entry of women of menstruating age (between 10 and 50 years old) was unconstitutional.

Military services
Women are not allowed to have combat roles in the armed forces. According to a study carried out on this issue, a recommendation was made that female officers be excluded from induction in close combat arms.
The study also held that a permanent commission could not be granted to female officers since they have neither been trained for command nor have they been given the responsibility so far, although changes are appearing. Women are starting to play important roles in army and the previous defence minister was a woman.
However, On 17 February 2020 the Supreme Court of India said that women officers in the Indian Army can get command positions at par with male officers. The court said that the government’s arguments against it were discriminatory, disturbing and based on stereotype. The court also said that permanent commission should be available to all women, regardless of their years of service, and the order must be implemented in 3 months

Other dimensions

• Skewed sex ratio
• The attitude towards Girl child
• Son meta preference
• Women seen as a body of commodification
• Glass ceiling effect in work places
• Pink collar jobs and confined mostly to service sector
• Care economy

Implications

• Domestic violence
• Low political literacy
• Poverty and mal nourishment among women
• Feminization of poverty
• Low enrollment ratio in higher education
• Poor health and hygiene (Menstruation is seen as a stigma)
• Denied entry in social sphere .

Way forward
Though many affirmative actions were taken by Government through various schemes, Customs and traditions hinders women empowerment since ages. The breaking point is far visible unless the values enshrined in the constitution and concept of gender equality is implemented and realized to its fullest potential.

Q.20. How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of education system in the country? Elaborate your answer. ( 250 words, 15 marks)

Approach
India has about 650 million cellular phone users, of which around 300-400 million people are smartphone users. Having one of the fastest rates of digital implementation in the world, the Indian Government has made use of this digital revolution and implemented several education-based projects.
In a press release, the Ministry of Human Resource Development outlined seven main e-learning initiatives that have made access to online educational resources easier for students and educators.

National Digital Library (NDL)
The National Digital Library is an online source of millions of academic texts from around the world, that is open to the general public. The NDL makes digital educational resources available to all Indian citizens and aims to empower, inspire and encourage learning.
It has over 17 million source materials from more than 160 sources, in over 200 languages. The NDL uses a single-window system to increase efficiency through time and cost savings. The platform collects and organises metadata from leading learning domestic and international institutions. It functions as a digital repository containing textbooks, articles, videos, audiobooks, lectures, simulations, fiction and other kinds of learning media.

E-pathshala

The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed the e-pathshala (e-school). It is an educational cyberspace meant to offer and disseminate e-resources in a variety of other print and non-print materials. So far, 3,444 audio files and videos, 698 e-books and 504 flipbooks are available on its portal and mobile app.

ShaGun portal
The ShaGun web portal-from the words Shaala (school) and Gunvatta (quality)- is a two-part initiative that provides a platform for the exchange of educational information.

One of the parts of the portal is a Repository. It consists of resource material, including, good practices, images, videos, studies, and newspaper articles etc. The project has been implemented throughout the country’s States and Union Territories. It aims to facilitate the sharing of ‘success stories’ and to foster a ‘positive competitive spirit’ among the students in the country by enabling them to learn from each other.

National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER)
The National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER) initiative sets out to bring together all digital and digitisable resources across every level of school and teacher education. At present, 13,635 files including collections (401), documents (2,722), audio files (1,664), images (2,581), and videos (6,105) are now available on its portal.

SWAYAM
The Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) is an integrated platform for online courses. It covers courses from the school (from grades 9 to 12) to the Post Graduate (PG) level. It provides a wide variety of subjects and skill-sector courses at affordable costs to students across the country.
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)’s Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are also available on the portal.

SWAYAM Prabha
The SWAYAM Prabhaprogrammeutilises satellite communication technologies to transmit educational content to national channels. Essentially, it is an around-the-clock educational television channel.

Information Communication Technology in school curricula

The Ministry has implemented the ICT in Education Curricula across the country. The project is aimed at students, teachers, and teacher educators. Now, the guidelines for cyber safety and security are a part of required learning material in schools.

Monetary Support

• Under the composite grant for schools, ranging between Rs. 25,000 for small schools with less than 100 students and Rs. 1 lakh for schools with over a thousand students for awareness and community mobilisation to sensitise parents, students and local leaders about pandemics, social distancing and other preventive measures.
• A proposed budget of Rs. 55,840 crore to equip government schools above the upper primary level, with ICT facilities. 

Challenges associated

• The possibility of being missed out due to Social Inequality and digital divide.

Digital gender divide

• Only 21 per cent of women in India are mobile internet users, according to GSMA’s 2020 mobile gender gap report, while 42 per cent of men have access. The report says that while 79 per cent of men own a mobile phone in the country, the number for women is 63 per cent.
• Families who are BPL cannot afford online education with meagre income.

Commercialization and brand endorsement  of Education

• commercialization of education may exclude the self-dependent tutors and students from mainstream education.

Technological Constraints

• Poor students, who do not have access to e-resources (computers, laptops, internet connectivity), will not be able to attend classes from home.

Lack of Practical Learning

• Chances Of Distraction Are Very High. Students can easily lose track of their studies in online education since there are no face-to-face lectures and classmates to remind you about assignments.
• Cannot Do Courses That Require Labs/Workshops.
• Traditional learning is an indispensable part of education.

Way forward

• Strengthening Right to education
• Access to universal internet service
• Investment in traditional education and infrastructure
• Increase GDP allocation for education
• Policy framework to ensure gender equality in education.