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(Download) UPSC IAS Mains Exam Paper - 2019 : Hindi Compulsory

(Download) UPSC IAS Mains Exam Paper - 2019 : Hindi Compulsory

HINDI (COMPULSORY)
Time Allowed :
Three hours
Maximum Marks : 300

Q1. निम्नलिखित में से किसी एक विषय पर 600 शब्दों में निबंध लिखिए : 100 अंक

(a) सर्जनात्मकता का पोषण करने वाली शिक्षा की आवश्यकता
(b) भारत में वन्य जीवन संरक्षण की चुनौतियाँ
(c) किशोर मानस पर फिल्मों का प्रभाव
(d) दिव्यंगों का सशक्तीकरण

Q2. निम्नलिखित गद्यांश को ध्यान पूर्वक पढ़िए और उसके आधार पर नीचे दी गए प्रश्नों के उत्तर स्पष्ट, सही और संक्षिप्त भाषा में दीजिए : 12 x 5 = 60 अंक

कुछ हजार वर्षों पूर्व तक मनुष्य पृथ्वी पर शिकारी मात्र था | नवपाषाण युग तक उसने कृषि के लिए बसना आरम्भ नही किया था | दूरदराज के इलाकों में घूमे बिना वह ज़मीन की जुताई करके भोजन की आपूर्ति बढ़ाने में सक्षम हुआ और लगातार कृषि को उन्नत करने में लगा रहा | आज तक वह पहले की तुलना में अधिक और बेहतर भू-उपज लेने में सक्षम रहा है| लेकिन जहाँ तक समुन्द्रों का सम्बन्ध है , वह अब तक लगभग शिकारी ही हैं | वह मछलियों और दूसरे जल-जीवों को पकड़ता है, किन्तु उसकी सतत वृद्धि और आपूर्ति को बनाए रखने के लिए सीमित प्रयत्न ही कर रहा है | अब तक जलीय शिकार से उसे अत्यधिक पौष्टिक प्रोटीन की काफी आपूर्ति हुई है | यह भू-कृषि से प्राप्त प्रोटीन की आपूर्ति का पूरक है | लेकिन दुनिया की बढती आबादी के कारण मनुष्य को शीघ्र ही समुद्र से इतने ज्यादा प्रोटीन की आवश्यकता गो सकती है कि उसकी यह भारी और सतत आपूर्ति भी खतरे में पड़ जाएगी | इसलिए मनुष्य को समुद्री खेती के माध्यम से पर्याप्त आपूर्ति बनाए रखने के लिए कदम उठाने होंगे|
लघु स्तर पर मछली-पालन तालाबों और झीलों में पहले ही सफलतापूर्वक किया जा चुका है | विशेष रूप से जल-विद्युत् परियोजनाओं के लिए बांधों के निर्माण द्वारा बनाई गई कृत्रिम झीलों में यह कार्य किया गया है | मीठे पानी के तालाबों में मछली की उपज से प्रोटीन की आपूर्ति में पहले से वृद्धि हुई है | उनमें से कुछ का विकास ग्रामीण समुदायों में कृषि-अधिकारियों की मदद और पर्यवेक्षक से हो रहा है |
एक बार मछली-तालाबों को युवा मछलियों से समृद्ध कर देने पर मछलियों का स्वस्थ वातावरण में विकास संभव होता है और उनके भोजन की पर्याप्त आपूर्ति भी हो जाती है | पानी में बड़ी संख्या में तैरते हुए प्लवक-सूक्ष्म जीव एवं वनस्पति-जलीय प्राणियों के लिए मुख्य खाद्य हैं | छोटी मछलियाँ इन्हें खाती हैं और अपने से बड़ी मछलियों का भोजन बनती हैं | चूँकि प्लवक पानी में मौजूद खनिजों से वृद्धि पाते हैं , इसलिए प्लवक की मात्रा को पानी में अतिरिक्त उर्वरकों द्वारा बढाया जा सकता है |
हालाँकि समुद्री खेती व्यावहारिक और लाभदायक दोनों हो सकती है, लेकिन इससे पहले कई समस्याएँ हल करनी होंगी | उदाहरण के लिए समुद्र के उस भाग में उर्वरक डालना उपयोगी नहीं है, जहाँ समुद्र की धाराएँ तेज गति से उर्वरकों को मीलों दूर अनुत्पादक पानी में ले जाती हैं | अगर मछली-पालक उर्वरकों को एक निश्चित क्षेत्र को मीलों दूर अनुत्पादक पानी में ले जाती है | अगर मछली-पालक उर्वरको को एक निश्चित क्षेत्र तक सीमित कर सके, तब भी उसे ‘अपने क्षेत्र’ तक उर्वरक-पोषित मछलियों को रखने का तरीका खोज ना होगा | और अपने व्यय का अधिकतम लाभ प्राप्त करने के लिए उसे मछलियों को भोजन देने का ऐसा तरीका देखना होगा, जिससे वह भोजन उन्ही मछलियों को मिले जिन्हें वह खिलाना है | उसे अखाघ जल-जीवों को हटाने की युक्ति लगानी होगी, जिससे वे उसकी मछलियों का भोजन साझा न करे |
स्पष्ट रूप से इन समस्याओं को हल करना बहुत आसान नहीं होगा - खासकर समुद्र की विशालता को देखते हुए, जो पृथ्वी की सतह के लगभग तीन-चौथाई को घेरे हुए है | समुन्द्रो का पानी तालाबों ओर झीलों की तुलना में धाराओं में निरंतर गतिशील रहता है | शायद समस्याओं को धीरे-धीरे हल किया जाएगा | निकट भविष्य में मनुष्य महादीपो के पास उथले अप-तटीय पानी में छोटे पैमाने पर मछली-पालन शुरू कर सकता है | वहाँ वह एसी मछलियों का संग्रह कर सकता है जिनका वह उत्पादन करना चाहता है, अपनी मछलियों के भोजन को खा जाने वाले अवांछनीय जल-जीवों को हटा सकता है, आवश्यकता के अनुसार उस क्षेत्र में उर्वरक डाल सकता है ओर अंततः समय-समय पर परिपक्व मछलियों की फ़सल को इकट्ठा कर सकता है |

(a) शिकार की तुलना में कृषि किस प्रकार बेहतर है तथा भविष्य में समुद्री- खेती क्यों आवश्यक होगी ? 12 अंक
(b) मछली-पालन में उर्वरकों की क्या भूमिका है ? 12 अंक
(c) समुन्द्र के किस भाग में मछली-पालन आरम्भ किया जा सकता है ? 12 अंक
(d) ‘निराई’ शब्द से आप क्या समझते है ? 12 अंक
(e) भविष्य में समुद्री खेती की समस्याओं का समाधान कैसे किया जा सकता है? 12 अंक

Q3. निम्नलिखित अनुच्छेद का संक्षेपण एक-तिहाई शब्दों में लिखिए | इसका शीर्षक लिखने की आवश्यकता नहीं है | संक्षेपण अपने शब्दों में ही लिखिए | 60 अंक

भारत की विशाल आबादी ग्रामीण है | उनकी सामाजिक-आर्थिक स्थिति और उनके जीवन की गुणवत्ता में सुधार के लिए ग्रामीण बुनियादी ढाँचे में सर्वागीण विकास की आवश्यकता है, जिससे समान और समावेश विकास के दीर्घपोषित उधेश्यो को प्राप्त किया जा सके | ग्रामीण बुनियादी ढाँचे का एक महत्त्वपूर्ण लोक हित है | नागरिकों की माँगें को पूरा करने के लिए, पानी के बुनियादी ढाँचे के निर्माण के लिए सार्वजनिक निवेश में वृद्धि की आवश्यकता है | एक जल-सुरक्षित राष्ट्र न केवल अपने नागरिकों को स्वच्छ और सुरक्षित पेयजल उपलब्ध कराएगा, बल्कि एक स्वस्थ और आर्थिक रूप से उत्पादक समाज को भी सुनिश्चित करेगा | हालाँकि, भारत की विशाल ग्रामीण आबादी की पीने के पानी की ज़रुरत को पूरा एक कठिन कार्य है, जिसका मुख्य करण स्थापित पेयजल आपूर्ति की क्षमता में कमी, सामाजिक-आर्थिक विकास का निम्न स्तर, शिक्षा और पानी के उपयोग और उपभोग के बारे में जागरूकता में कमी का होना है |
संविधान का अनुच्छेद 47 राज्यों को सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य को बेहतर बनाने के लिए सुरक्षित पेयजल उपलब्ध कराने का आदेश देता है | स्वच्छ पेयजल की व्यवस्था बीमारियों और घातक घटनाओं में कमी लाती है और जीवन-स्तर को बेहतर बनाने में मदद करती है | देश की करोड़ो की आबादी के समग्र स्वास्थ्य में सुधार के लिए स्वच्छ और सुरक्षित पेयजल और स्वच्छता का प्रावधान महत्त्वपूर्ण है |
सतत विकास पानी की उपलब्धता और स्वच्छता का सतत प्रबंधन सुनिश्चित करने की आवश्यकता पर ज़ोर देता है | सुरक्षित पेयजल तक पहुँच के मामले में इससे एक तरह से यही तात्पर्य है कि ‘कोई भी पीछे न छूट जाए’ जो कि इस वर्ष ‘विश्व जल दिवस’ का थीम भी था | विश्व जल दिवस प्रति वर्ष 22 मार्च को मनाया जाया है |
सरकार ग्रामीण जनों हेतु सुरक्षित पेयजल सुनिश्चित करने पर ध्यान केन्द्रित कर रही है | सरकार द्वारा समय-समय पर इस क्षेत्र में सामने आने वाली चुनौतियों से निपटने के लिए महत्त्वपूर्ण कदम भी उठाए जाते रहे है | ग्रामीण जल आपूर्ति योजनाओं के क्रियान्वयन के लिए महत्त्वपूर्ण कदम भी उठाए जाते रहे है | ग्रामीण जल आपूर्ति योजनाओं के क्रियान्वयन के लिए अनुदान दिए जाने से लेकर क्रियान्वयन एवं रखरखाव पहलुओं और भू-जल पुनर्भरण हेतु भी क़दम उठाए गए है | कुछ अन्य कदमों में वर्षा जल संचयन भी शामिल है जो कि बेहद महत्त्वपूर्ण पहलू है और ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में सतत रूप में सुरक्षित पेयजल आपूर्ति में मददगार हो सकता है | ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में कृत्रिम पुनर्भरण और वर्षा जल संचयन ढांचे के निर्माण हेतु सरकारें मास्टर प्लान पर कार्य कर रही है | भारत में एसी सफलता की कहानियों की भरमार है जो कि जल संचयन के हमारे प्राचीन परंपरागत ज्ञान और विवेक की तरफ ध्यान आकर्षित करती है | 2001 में तमिलनाडु सरकार ने हर परिवार के लिए वर्षा जल संरक्षण की आधार भूत संरचना रखना अनिवार्य कर दिया | बंगलौर और पुणे जैसे नगरो में भी इसके जैसे प्रयोग किया गया है, जँहा आवास-समितियों द्वारा वर्षा जल संरक्षण अपेक्षित है | दूसरे राज्यों में भी इसी प्रकार की अनेक पहले हुई है |
भू-हल का अति दोहन भारत में एक मुख्य समस्या है | इसे रोकने के लिए राज्य सरकारों द्वारा नियामक तंत्र की आवश्यकता है | गंभीर रूप से प्रभावित क्षेत्रों में अत्यधिक कुओं की खुदाई पर प्रतिबंध लगना चाहिए | पेयजल आपूर्ति की योजनाओं को प्रभावी को प्रभावी बनाने के लिए पंचायती राज संस्थाओं की अधिक भागीदारी की जरूरत है | फिलहाल पंचायती राज संस्थाओं की भूमिका अति न्यून है | ग्रामीण समुदायों, गैर-सरकारी संगठनों तथा सरकार की सुविधा दाता और सह-वित्पोश्क के रूप में भागीदारी सफल रही है | हमे याद रखना चाहिए कि ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में पेयजल की उपलब्धता और पहुँच का दायरा बढ़ाने के लिए, हमे ग्रामीण समुदायों के सक्रिय सहयोग से पानी के न्यायसंगत संरक्षण और उपयोग हेतु हर प्रकार के प्रयास करने की आवश्यकता है |
समुदाय की भागीदारी, संचालन और रखरखाव की आर्थिक व्यवहार्यता को बढ़ाती है | यह अंतनिर्हित सामुदायिकता के कारण बेहतर रखरखाव की आर्थिक व्ययहर्यता को बढ़ती है | पीने के पानी के स्रोतों के पास न केवल स्वच्छता बनाए रखने में समुदाय की महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका है, बल्कि उन तरीकों और साधनों को भी सुधारना है, जिनके द्वारा संग्रह, भंडारण और उपयोग करते समय प्रदूषण से बचने के लिए पानी एकत्र किया जाता है |
ग्रामीण क्षेत्रो में इन योजनाओं के प्रभावी कार्यान्वयन के लिए पंचायती राज संस्थाएँ, स्वयं-सहायता समूह और सहकारी समितियों के माध्यम की सक्रिय भागीदारी की आवश्यकता है, ताकि 2030 तक ‘हर घर जल ’ के लक्ष्य को प्राप्त किया जा सके और दीर्घकालिक टिकाऊ समाधान को साकार किया जा सके |

Q4. निम्नलिखित गद्यांश का अंग्रेजी में अनुवाद कीजिए : 20 अंक

जब कोई व्यक्ति अपने को देखता है तो वह अपने बारे में गलत अनुमान लगा लेता है | वह अपने उद्देश्यों को देखता है | ज़्यादातर लोग लोग कुछ उद्देश्य लेकर चलते है और मान लेते है कि वे जो भी काम कर रहे है, उसका अच्छा ही परिणाम होगा | किसी भी व्यक्ति के लिए अपने कार्यो का तटस्थ मूल्यांकन कठिन है, जिससे हो सकता है और प्राय: होता भी है कि उसके अच्छे उद्देश्यों में विरोधाभास पैदा हो जाते है | ज़्यादातर लोग काम करने के इरादे से आते है और अपना काम उस ढंग से करते है जो उन्हें सुविधाजनक लगता है; और शाम को संतुष्ट की भावना लिए घर चले जाते है | वे अपने काम का मूल्यांकन नहीं करते है | वे अपने इरादों का ही मूल्यांकन करते है | ऐसा माना जाता है, क्योंकि कोई भी व्यक्ति अपने कार्य को समय के भीतर खत्म करने का इरादा रखता है और अगर इसमें विलंब होता है तो यह उसके नियंत्रण के बाहर की बात होती है | काम में देरी करने का उसका कोई इरादा नहीं होता है | लेकिन अगर उसके काम का तरीका या आलस्य देरी का कारण बनता है, तो क्या यह इरादतन नहीं होता ?
समस्या यह है कि प्राय जीवन के साथ जूझने के बजाय इसका विश्लेषण करने लगते है | लोग अपने आसफलताओ से कुछ सीखने के बजाय या उनका अनुभव लेने के बजाय, उनके कारणों एवं प्रभाव की चीरफाड़ करने लगते है | कठिनाइयों एवं संकटों के माध्यम से ईश्वर हमें बढने का अवसर प्रदान करता है | इसलिए जब आपकी उम्मीदें, सपने एवं लक्ष्य चूर-चूर हो गए हो तो अवशेषों के भीतर तलाश कीजिए | आपको उनके भीतर छिपा कोई सुनहरा मोका अवश्य मिलेगा |
लोगो की कार्यकुशलता बढ़ाने के लिए उनको प्रेरित करना और हताशा से उबरना हर नेता के लिए हमेशा एक चुनौती भरा कम होता है | संगठनों में एक नेता स्वीकृति और प्रतिरोध के बीच का रास्ता तलाश करता है |

Q5. निम्नलिखित गद्यांश का हिंदी में अनुवाद कीजिए : 20 अंक

Freedom has assuredly given us a new status and new opportunities. But it also implies that we should discard selfishness, laziness and all narrowness of outlook. Our freedom suggests toil and the creation of new values for old ones. We should so discipline ourselves as to be able to discharge our responsibilities satisfactorily. If there is any one thing that needs to be stressed, it is that we should put in action our full sphere, however humble. Work, unceasing work, should now be our watchword. Work is wealth, and service is happiness. The greatest crime today is idleness. If we root out idleness, all our difficulties, including even conflicts, will gradually disappear. Weather as constable or high official of the state, weather as businessman or industrialist, artisan or farmer, each one is discharging the obligation to the state, and making a contribution to the welfare of the country. Honest work is the anchor to which we should cling if we want to be saved from danger or difficulty. It is the fundamental law of progress.

Q6. (a) निम्नलिखित मुहावरों का अर्थ स्पष्ट करते हुए उनका वाक्यों में प्रयोग कीजिए : 2x5 = 10 अंक

(i) आकाश-पाताल एक करना 2 अंक
(ii) घी के दीये जलाना 2 अंक
(iii) तोर तोड़ लाना 2 अंक
(iv) घर भरना 2 अंक
(v) टांग पसार कर सोना 2 अंक

(b) निम्नलिखित वाक्यों के शुद्ध रूप लिखिए : 2x5 = 10 अंक

(i) शायद आज वर्षा अवश्य होगी | 2 अंक
(ii) मुझे एक पानी का गिलास चाहिए | 2 अंक
(iii) मैंने खाना खाना है | 2 अंक
(iv) मोहन और शीला बाजार जा रही है | 2 अंक
(v) जुलुस में सेकंडो हथियां शामिल थे | 2 अंक

(c) निम्नलिखित शब्दो के दो दो पर्यावाची लिखिए : 2x5 = 10 अंक

(i) दूध  2 अंक
(ii) आँख  2 अंक
(iii) यमुना 2 अंक
(iv) रुधिर  2 अंक
(v) पक्षी 2 अंक

(d) निम्नलिखित युग्मों को इस तरह से वाक्य में प्रयुक्त कीजिए कि उनका अर्थ एवं अंतर स्पष्ट हो जाए : 2x5 = 10 अंक

(i) अभिनय - अभिनव 2 अंक
(ii) कपट - कपाट  2 अंक
(iii) गुर - गुरु 2 अंक
(iv) जूठा - झूठा 2 अंक
(v) बुरा - बूरा 2 अंक

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(Download) UPSC IAS Mains Exam 2019 - English Literature


(Download) CS (MAIN) EXAM:2019 English Literature


Exam Name: CS (MAIN) EXAM:2019 English Literature
Marks: 250
Time Allowed : Three Hours

PAPER - 1

SECTION-A

1. Write short notes on the following. Each question should be answered in about 150 words : 10x5=50 Mark

(a) The English Renaissance and its impact

(b) The characteristics of the Victorian Age

(c) The unique features of Metaphysical Poetry

(d) The difference between a Burlesque and a Mock-epic

(e) Novel as a moral fable

PAPER - 2

SECTION-A

Q1. Critically comment in about 150 words each on the following passages : 10x5=50 Mark

(a) A shudder in the loins engenders there
The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
And Agamemnon dead.

                                    (Yeats) 10 Mark

(b) Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.

                                    (Eliot) 10 Mark             

(c) Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd :
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.

                                    (Auden) 10 Mark

(d) Ah, solving that question
Brings the priest the doctor
In their long coats
Running over the fields.

                                    (Larkin) 10 Mark                            

(e) Only the Egyptians had it  right :
their kings hed sisters for queens
to continue the incests
of childhood into marriage.

                                (Ramanujan) 10 Mark                                                                             

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(The Gist of Kurukshetra) NATIONAL NUTRITION MISSION (POSHAN ABHIYAAN)  [SEPTEMBER-2019]


(The Gist of Kurukshetra) NATIONAL NUTRITION MISSION (POSHAN ABHIYAAN)

 [SEPTEMBER-2019]


NATIONAL NUTRITION MISSION (POSHAN ABHIYAAN)

Introduction

  • Nutrition is acknowledged as one of the most cost effective entry points for human development, poverty reduction and economic development.
  • Poshan Abhiyan launched in 2017-18 is mandated to reduce the level of undernutrition, stunting, anaemia and low-birth weight babies in most backward districts of the country. National Nutrition Mission or Poshan Abhiyan is an apex body to monitor and supervise nutrition related interventions across Ministries, set-up with budget outlay of 9046.17 crore. The Poshan Abhiyan proposes to introduce robust convergent mechanism by mapping of various schemes related to addressing malnutrition.
  • The initiatives proposed under Poshan Abhiyaan include real-time monitoring of programme implementation, introducing measurement of children's height at Anganwadi centres, incentivizing States for meeting the targets and involving masses through Jan Andolan.

Linking the place of healthcare delivery are divided into three broad segments

1. District Hospital

  • Care at birth
  • Care of sick and premature babies
  • Treatment of common childhood diseases
  • Immunization
  • Micronutrient supplementation

2. Primary Health Centre Community health centre

  • Care at birth
  • Treatment of common childhood diseases
  • Immunization
  • Referral of sick babies
  • Micronutrient supplementation

3. Community

  • Home based newborn care by ASHA
  • Immunization by ANMs
  • Referral of sick babies
  • Micronutrient supplementation

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

  •  The biggest nutrition supplementation programme is Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Launched on 2nd October 1975, the ICDS Scheme represents one of the world's largest and most unique programme to improve the nutritional and health status of children aged 0 to 6 years and pregnant and nursing women.
  •  The programme provides a package of services, comprising supplementary nutrition,
  •  immunisation, health check-up, referral services to children below six years of age and expectant and nursing mothers. Non-formal pre-school education is imparted to children in the age group 3-6 years and health and nutrition education to women in the age group 15-45 years.

Service Provisions

  •  ICDS Scheme offers a package of six services, viz. health services are provided in collaboration of NHM usually by ANMs during village health nutrition and sanitation day.
  •  Nutrition component of ICDS aims to provide the following services.
  •  Food supplementation to pre-school children between the age of six months to six years, pregnant and lactating mothers and selected adolescent girls.
  •  Nutrition education to mothers for improving dietary intake and dietary diversity.
  •  Nutrition education regarding appropriate infant and young child feeding.
  •  Growth monitoring and detection of growth faltering.

Budgetary Allocations and Restructuring of ICDS

  •  ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and union territories. Until FY 2005-06, the Government of India (GOI) provided 100 per cent financial assistance for inputs other than supplementary nutrition programme (SNP), which was funded entirely through state budgets. The funding pattern was modified in FY 2009-10. SNP is now funded through a 50:50 ratio except for north-eastern states which have a 90:10ratio. For all other components, GOI provides 90 per cent of the budget.
  •  Many steps have been taken under system strengthening and restructuring of ICDS to improve service delivery :
  •  Public Private Partnership to improve infrastructure and service delivery such as 'NandGhar' project is encouraging and can lead to better dividends.
  •  Decentralized food procurement in few states is a positive step, joint account in the name of AWW and Ward member, Standard menu for the state, community based monitoring, display of standard menu at the AWC, Role of Gram Panchayat in Monitoring and Supervision, involvement of WSHGs for preparing food, etc. help in increasing transparency and accountability.
  •  Improved Management Information System and monitoring and supervision using information communication technology will support quality improvement. Use of ICT and system strengthening efforts in selected states has reported to have helped in improving delivery of services.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme

  •  School feeding programmes are considered as long term social protection investment that have multiple benefits. They serve three important perspectives: social equity through reaching the most vulnerable children, educational advancement by contributing to learning by increasing children's access to education and maintaining their nutritional status and overall health. Additionally, they provide income support to families through the provision of food to children. Mid day meal perhaps facilitate school performance among underprivileged children and class inequalities.
  •  Mid-day meal programme was launched in 1995 as central sponsored scheme. Under this programme cooked mid-day meals were to be introduced in all government and government aided primary schools within two years. The programme envisaged the provision of cooked meals/ processed food of calorific value as per prescribed norms for children studying in classes IV in all Government, local body and Government aided primary schools free of cost.

Programme Implementation

  •  The Central and State Governments work hand in hand to implement the programme. Central Government issues guidelines to be followed by State Governments while executing the scheme, some states have developed separate guidelines as well.
  •  Budgetary Allocations Mid- Day Meal Scheme allocation adopted a bottom up approach and is based on Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B), submitted by States/UT Administrations.
  •  State/UT required to ensure that the plans have been prepared at the School level through participatory planning processes as per guidelines (2006). The budget allocation for MDM covered following heads,
  •  Food grain at the rate of 100 gram per child for primary school and 150 gram per child for upper primary schools.
  •  Cooking cost for eligible schools / implementing agencies for meeting the cost of pulses, vegetables, oil / fats, salt and condiments and fuel.
  •  To cover the impact of price rise in the items of consumption in the MDM basket, the cooking cost has been revised upward annually since 2010 @7.5 per cent.
  •  The present cooking cost is Rs. 4.13 per child per day for primary stage and Rs. 6.18 per child per day for upper primary stage (2016).

Conclusion

  •  The above described initiatives highlight the commitment of the Government to address hunger and malnutrition in India.
  •  Although, to achieve nutrition goals, there is a need to address the challenges of bridging the gaps in their implementation, bringing parity and improving the coverage of services.

Study Material for UPSC General Studies Pre Cum Mains

(The Gist of Kurukshetra) ENSURING CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND NUTRITION  [SEPTEMBER-2019]


(The Gist of Kurukshetra) ENSURING CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND NUTRITION

 [SEPTEMBER-2019]


ENSURING CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND NUTRITION

Introduction

  • India is home to the largest child population in the world. Child health and nutritional status is one of the important indicators of a country's social and economic development. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the UN, India has committed to reduce death rate of under-five years children by 25 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030. India's own National Health Profile has set an aim of 23 by 2025.
  • Constitution of India guarantees fundamental rights to children and empowers states to make special provision for children. The National Policy for Children (2013) recognize that a long term, sustainable, multi-sectoral, integrated and inclusive approach is vital for healthy growth and development of children.
  • The policy further recognizes that survival, health, nutrition, education, protection and participation is the right of every child of this country. To ensure health, nutrition and protection of the children, various programmes are implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
    Child Health Programme under National Health Mission
  • Reducing child deaths is one of the most important goals of National Health Mission (NHM). Child health programmes implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM) comprehensively integrates interventions recognizing that reproductive, maternal and child health cannot be addressed in isolation as these are closely linked to the health status of the population in various stages of life cycle.
  • The health of an adolescent girl impacts pregnancy while the health of a pregnant woman impacts the health of the newborn and the child. As such, interventions may be required at various stages of life cycle, which are mutually linked.

Study Material for UPSC General Studies Pre Cum Mains

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 12 october 2019 (Let’s use cognitive science insights for better learning (Mint))

Let’s use cognitive science insights for better learning (Mint)

Mains Paper 3: Science and Tech
Prelims level: Testing effect, Spaced practice
Mains level: Cognitive science insights

Context

  • Insights about how the human brain gathers and stores information have been accumulating for over a hundred years.
  • But there’s a distressing gap in mainstream education: good pedagogical practice—applying what cognitive science—has often taken a back-seat to convenience, scale and tradition.
  • The need for better learning points to a significant redesign of existing education systems.

Better learning points

  • We learn best in about 10-minute chunks.
  • This appears to be related to the way we form short-term memories in the brain.
  • If learning exceeds that time, the mind begins to wander.
  • Lectures need to be extremely short to be effective.
  • Recorded lectures, enabling viewers to pause, rewind or speed up a video, offer a base level of personalization, where students can learn at their own pace.
  • By contrast, learning through regular in-person lectures does not offer this flexibility.

Testing effect

  • When a learner is tested frequently about the material that she has just learnt, learning is better.
  • For example, a learner who is given weaker cues for the test, and therefore struggles more to recall material, will learn better.

Spaced practice

  • The testing is best when spaced out over weeks or months.
  • This flies in the face of a prevalent and expedient approach of mass practice, in which a student might address a number of problems at the end of a chapter in a short span of time.
  • This applies not just to academic learning, but also to sports and motor driving.
  • Spaced practice has now been explained to some extent down to the levels of the proteins needed for long-term memory.
  • A key aspect of spaced learning is that relearning material is most effective just before the learner forgets the material.

Topics are interspaced with one another

  • Fourth, content is best absorbed when topics are interspaced with one another.
  • A common practice in education is to take up topics in blocks: multiplication one day, say, followed by division a week later.
  • The evidence from extensive research points to the benefits of interleaving practice.
  • The benefits have been replicated in a range of subject areas, including mathematics and fine art.

Key aspects of learning

  • Novices thus need more “fill in the blank" problems. But as novices gain expertise and develop the schema needed to absorb information, they can be exposed effectively to more open-ended problems.
  • Tactile experience, in which a student physically feels angular momentum, or gestures to capture a phenomenon, have been shown to result in better learning than if the learning is purely abstract.
  • Prototyping technologies such as 3D printing, Lego Mindstorms, the Arduino, the Raspberry Pi, App Inventor, and even the programming language Python, enable hands-on learning. The power at the fingertips of students to actualize their ideas, learn from real creation, seek feedback, and enjoy the pleasure of achievement is unprecedented—and will increase with time.
  • Project-based learning, problem-based learning and task-oriented learning are all techniques that give students more agency and purpose.
  • Integration is another important aspect of learning, where projects and tasks can help. While learning through discipline-aligned courses can be effective, it can lead to siloed knowledge. Integration refers to connecting topics across silos.
  • Techniques such as game-based learning can lead a student through a series of tasks and create an environment where learning occurs naturally. An example is World Without Oil, an alternate reality game that leads players through a post-oil world, forcing them to think about the implications of an oil shock.

Conclusion

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 12 october 2019 (Do we need a countrywide National Register of Citizens? (The Hindu))

Do we need a countrywide National Register of Citizens? (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: NRC
Mains level: Arguments behind NRC and implementation process

Context

  • After rolling out the National Register of Citizens(NRC) in Assam, the incumbent government at the Centre has said it will conduct a similar exercise in the rest of the country.

History of NRC

  • In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan. The liberation war led to a massive influx of migrants to India until 1983.
  • In 1983, the Parliament enacted the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act (IMDT Act). The IMDT Act laid down the procedure to detect illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and expel them from Assam.
  • This Act was applicable to only Assam, while the Foreigners Act, 1946 was applicable to all other states. Thus NRC is an Assam specific exercise and it is opined that there is no need for a nationwide NRC.

Key issues

  • It is alleged that the all India NRC is based on majoritarian sentiments built on the misery of minorities.
  • The government claims extending NRC to other states as an exercise to get rid of illegal migrants, protect interests of the minorities and better utilisation of resources which has not been accepted by many experts considering the fate of 1.9 crore people excluded from it.

Conclusion

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 12 october 2019 (It is still an amber light for road safety (The Hindu))

It is still an amber light for road safety (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019
Mains level: Highlights of the provisions of Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019

Context

  • The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 passed by the Lok Sabha on July 23 and by the Rajya Sabha on July 31 has 63 clauses with the aim of reducing road traffic fatalities and injuries in India.
  • The Amendment to the Act is intended to reduce traffic crashes by at least 50% by 2030 (a target set by the United Nations).

Highlights the provisions of MV Amendment Act 2019

  • The following provisions are highlighted as follows:
  • To increase compensation for road accident victims,
  • To constitute of a Motor Vehicle Accident fund to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users.
  • To develop of a National Transportation Policy.
  • To constitute of a National Road Safety Board.
  • To increase penalties for several offences.

Key issues

  • There does not seem to be any correlation between stricter and higher penalties and a reduction in road traffic crashes in countries where road traffic 5 deaths have reduced over the years, examples being West Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia.
  • Road safety experts suggest that road designs such as lane width, number of lanes and median design influence driving behaviour such as operating speeds, lane changing, etc.
  • Greater mix of vehicles like tractors, Cyclists etc. even on highways makes it difficult to manage traffic in India.
  • A Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) report of 2018 has listed 1,51,430 fatalities. However, for the same year, the World Health Organisation estimates nearly 300,000 deaths.
  • The government of India study by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India (‘The Million Death’ study) also reports at least a 50% underreporting of traffic fatalities and a higher share of pedestrian and motorised two-wheelers as Road Traffic Collision victims when compared to the MoRTH report.

Way forward

  • Safety interventions have to be based on three important principles:
  • Recognition of human weaknesses of fatigue, falling asleep etc.
  • Acceptance of human error, and creation of a forgiving environment.
  • Road engineers can change the road design to reduce boredom and monotony thus reducing chances of driver feeling sleepy.
  • Safety performance and safeguards should be periodically evaluated.
  • The accident data needs to be reliable on the basis of which the government needs to build road safety policies.

Conclusion

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 12 october 2019 (What PMC means (The Hindu))

What PMC means (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: PMC Bank crisis
Mains level: Regulatory functions of the RBI

Context

  • In at least three of the major financial sector scams in the last couple of months in India, featuring Punjab National Bank, IL&FS, some private banks and now the latest, Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank or PMC, apart from poor governance and fraudulent practices, a common thread has been supervisory failure.

Supervision authority

  • The country’s leading financial sector regulator, the RBI, has been shown as flat-footed, responding only after the event.
  • Like IL&FS, in the PMC case too, there appears to be culpability on the part of the management and the board of the bank.
  • The bank’s loan exposure to a single firm, HDIL, alone constituted 73 per cent of its assets and several dummy accounts were created to camouflage this.
  • The issue of dual control by the RBI and state governments has been cited as a hurdle by the regulator for its inability to effectively supervise cooperative banks.
  • The limitations in superceding the board of directors or removing directors of these banks, unlike in commercial banks.

Credit delivery abilities by co-operative bank

  • The role of co-operative banks in ensuring credit delivery to the unorganised sector and last mile access, especially to small businesses, over the last few decades in an economy where the large banks continue to focus on bigger cities and towns.
  • As RBI report shows, fund flows to the commercial sector have declined by close to 88 per cent in the first six months of this current fiscal —that would have surely hurt small businessmen, traders and the farm sector.
  • Since liberalisation, it has been the resilience of India’s financial sector, which may also have to do with the dominance of government-owned institutions or lenders and a strong central bank.

Regulatory functions restructured by RBI

  • The central bank has already started building an internal cadre for supervision of banks and other entities aimed at enhancing its oversight capabilities.
  • This will be complemented by legislative changes which could lead to greater regulatory control and powers for the RBI over cooperative banks and an insolvency regime for financial firms.
  • India needs not just a few large banks and lenders with a national or regional presence but also other players such as cooperative banks, small finance and payment banks.
  • There are voices seeking greater accountability on the part of India’s financial regulators.
  • The risk it holds is the prospect of supervisors swinging to the other extreme while poring over the books of banks and compounding the problem, besides stifling innovation.

Conclusion

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 12 october 2019 (Economic slowdown may be structural, not cyclical (Indian Express))

Economic slowdown may be structural, not cyclical (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Cyclical slowdowns
Mains level: Arguments behind the slowdown being structural

Context

  • India is in the middle of a sharp growth slowdown.
  • The debate surrounding the slowdown is whether it is a cyclical downturn or a structural correction.
  • Diagnosing the problem is key for devising policy responses.

Cyclical slowdowns

  • Cyclical slowdowns can be dealt with using temporary fiscal and monetary stimulus.
  • Structural problems, on the other hand, require long-run policy responses.

Arguments behind the slowdown being structural

  • Most of the growth between 2014 and 2017 was sparked by a sharp increase in government spending.
  • Given India’s oil imports, the decline in the world price of oil by almost USD 50 a barrel between 2014 and 2016 represented a windfall revenue gain of 3 per cent of GDP.
  • Since the fiscal deficit barely moved, the government effectively used the windfall to finance various government schemes.
  • Now that oil prices have reverted towards their previous levels, maintaining a stable fiscal deficit has necessitated a reduction in government expenditures.
  • If there is absent the oil windfall, Indian growth over this period would have been 2-3 percentage points lower annually.
  • The economic slowdown has been ongoing for almost four years now.
  • Cyclical downturns last a few quarters, maybe a year. Negative growth pressures for four years indicate structural problems.

Structural slowdown needs investment demand

  • The period 2016-2018, a number of commentators and industry representatives kept up a drumbeat of criticism of the Monetary Policy Committee’s refusal to cut rates.
  • The argument was that high real interest rates, along with the restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India on banks’ lending in order to deal with the NPA problem, were jointly responsible for low investment demand.
  • Since the beginning of 2019, both the monetary policy stance as well as the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) norms have been relaxed by the RBI.
  • However, investment demand has barely moved in response.

How to deal with structural slowdown?

  • To dealing with structural problems doesn’t require fiscal spending. Instead, it involves non-pecuniary costs.
  • The government has to expend some of its considerable political capital in order to usher in long-term labour and land reforms.
  • These aren’t easy because the state governments have to be roped in to get these reforms going.

Lowering corporate tax rate

  • The move to lower the corporate tax rate is a good one. It has the characteristic of a capital market structural reform as long as it is not used as a temporary fiscal measure.
  • The government needs to signal unambiguously to markets that this is a permanent reduction of the base rate.
  • The uncertainty surrounding the longevity of the tax cut will undo a lot of its potential upside.

To improve financial infrastructure

  • The financial infrastructure within which the economy operates is another key structural bottleneck that needs to be addressed.
  • The public sector banking network which accounts for 75 per cent of India’s banking assets.
  • Public sector banks introduce two complications to the financial system.
  • First, they allow for capture of the credit allocation system by non-market forces.
  • Second, since the regulator of banks is the RBI which is itself owned by the government, this amounts to the regulator regulating the entity that it itself is reporting to. This system is subject to regulatory capture.
  • The government can induce regulatory changes by just changing the personnel it appoints to the upper management of the RBI or to its board, a scenario that played out in gory detail over the last year.
  • India needs to urgently begin reducing the importance of public sector banks in the economy.
  • This can be done either through privatisation of existing public sector banks or through the granting of banking licenses to private operators.
  • On-tap banking licenses on offer have attracted little interest so far suggests that the privatisation of public sector banks needs to be prioritised.

Issuing sovereign bonds

  • The idea needs to be pursued for multiple reasons.
  • First, sovereign bonds would force government debt to be priced in a more competitive setting. Currently, it is priced in a sheltered domestic bond market.
  • Second, issuing sovereign bonds will force greater clarity and transparency of macroeconomic data since international creditors will demand that.
  • Things like failure to achieve policy targets or reticence in releasing data will attract rapid punishment by markets. This fear will provide greater discipline to policymaking.

Way forward

  • The government would also do well to revisit the appointments process to key technical and regulatory bodies.
  • Functions like monetary policy, banking supervision, data collection and dissemination, audit of government financial accounts, are all technical jobs need to be independent of government direction.
  • Appointing career bureaucrats with little to no domain training or background to run them doesn’t help in either facilitating functional competence or in signaling the independence of these institutions from government control. Domain competence needs to be prioritised.

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