[Answerkey] GS Mains Answerkey 2012: all 1,2,5 markers solved for Paper I & II

Since UPSC is hellbent on ‘not disclosing mains answerkey’ through RTI, it is left for us to design our own answerkeys

• In GS 1, total 70 marks worth questions were from 1marker,2marker and 5marker group.
• In GS 2, total 30 marks worth questions were from “5 marker” group. (excluding Stat section for the moment.)
• So out of total 600 marks, 100 marks of stuff was 2 marker type. That means 1/6^th or 16.67% of paper was 2 marker-ish (objective, non-opinion, non-suggestion, non-criticism type of questions).

Anyways, more analysis later, here are my non-model-un-official answerkey/solutions for all 5 markers, 2 markers and 1 markers asked in GS Mains 2012.

1. Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat’
2. NMP 2011
3. Rasarnava
4. Art. 21
5. RTI preamble
6. National  Council
7. National Mission on Libraries (NML)
8. Musical Instrument Classification
9. Fire in Zoroastrianism
10. Laurie Baker
11. Treatment of Heatstroke
12. Patharughat
13. Bagurumba folk dance
14. Presidential Elections
15. SPOT-6
16. Sainath
17. 1 markers: Person in News (PIN)
18. G8+5
19. Papiloma Virus
20. South China
21. Environmental Sustainabilty
22. Sustainable Development of People
23. CDM

GS Mains 2012 Paper I

Q.3. Answer the following in about 50 words each:5X11=55

Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat’

1. What is the ‘Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat’?

• Concept evolved by National Commission.
• It is established under Legal Service Authority Act.
• For redressal and speedy disposal of Marital disputes and other family disputes
• Advantages: Provides mutual settlement and flexibility in functioning.

NMP 2011

2. List the main objectives of the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP), 2011.

• To increase the sectoral share of manufacturing in GDP to at least 25% by 2022;
• To increase the rate of job creation so as to create 100 million additional jobs by 2022;
• To enhance global competitiveness, domestic value addition, technological depth and environmental sustainability of growth.

Rasarnava

3. Comment on the significance of Rasarnava in studying the history of Indian Chemistry.

• Written in 12^th century, by an unknown author, in Sanskrit language.
• Rasārṇava, or “Treatise on Metallic Preparations”, contains wealth of wealth of information Tantric-Medical and chemical knowedge and practices prevalent in India during that period.
• It deals with Rasas (mercury and other important minerals), Uparasas (inferior minerals), metals. etc and various means of processing them.

Art. 21

4. What are the Rights within the ambit of Article 21  of the Indian Constitution?

• It explicitly guarantees the Protection of Life and Personal liberty. And In various judgements, SC has provided many inferred rights viz.
• Right to dignity, to medical assistance, to pollution free water and air, minor girl’s right to bear child, free legal aid, speedy trial, right against handcuffing, against third degree torture during policy custody, against phone-tapping etc.

RTI preamble

5. Comment on the significance of the Preamble contained in the Right to Information Act.

• This preamble provides the philosophy and overview of RTI act.
• Philosophy: Constitution of India has established democratic Republic, AND democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency.
• Overview: RTI is an Act for setting out the practical regime of transperency and right to information and for constitution of a Central Information Commission (CIC) and State Information Commissions (SIC).

National  Council

6. To implement one key recommendation of the Mohini Giri Committee, the Government has recently announced the constitution of a National  Council. Highlight the composition and the mandate  of this National Council.

Composition

• Chairman: Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment.
• Minister of State, Social Justice & Empowerment,
• Oldest Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,
• Representatives of 5 State Governments + 1 Union Territory (by rotation.)
• 5 representatives each from Senior Citizens’ Associations, Pensioners’ Association,  NGOs working for Senior Citizens and Experts.

(lolz 50 words quota is already over! But still mandate remains)

Mandate

This council will advise the Central and State Governments on issues related to

• policies, programmes and legislative measures for the welfare of senior citizens.
• promotion of physical and financial security, health and independent and productive  living
• awareness generation and community mobilization.

National Mission on Libraries (NML)

7. Comment on the recent launching of the National Mission on Libraries (NML).

• Department of Culture (DoC) had proposed setting up a National Mission for Libraries (NML) in the XI Plan as a Central Sector Scheme.
• NML is an initiative to revitalise the public library movement in the country.
• Under this mission, public libraries will be equipped with modern gadgets and broadband connectivity and networking with other leading libraries, educational and cultural institutions.

Musical Instrument Classification

8. What are the groups into which musical instruments  in India have traditionally been classified?

1. Tata vadya – String instruments (violin)
2. Sushira vadya – Wind instruments  (flute)
3. Avanaddha vadya – Membrane covered (damru, mridangam )
4. Ghana vadya – Solid percussion (gongs)

By the way, You can find truckload of future 2 markers related to Indian musical instruments, in following thread:

www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=541996

Fire in Zoroastrianism

9. Comment on the significance of fire in Zoroastrianism.

• Fire together with clean water, are agents of ritual purity in Zoroastrian ritual.
• Fire symbolizes light in the struggle against darkness in this religion.
• Their places of worship are commonly known as “Agiyari” (Fire Temple).
• Their most sacred places of worship are known as Atash Bahram, or “fire of victory.” There are only ten current Atash Bahrams, eight in India and two in Iran.

Laurie Baker

10.  Why is Laurie Baker called ‘the conscience keeper of Indian architecture’?

• Known for building affordable, elegant and energy efficient homes in Kerala.
• The Housing and Urban Development Corporation too had adopted his eco-friendly, low-cost building methods there to provide a clean living environment to the poor.
• People called his designs ‘Baker-model houses’. No other architect has been able to make such a bold statement in his practice.
• Given Padam Sri for his works.
• in Thiruvananthapuram he designed and built Centre for Development Studies (CDS) which continues to be a pilgrim centre for budding architects from across the country.

Treatment of Heatstroke

11. You are stationed in a small district town in the plains of Northern India, The summer has been severe. Suddenly, a colleague, who had been out since morning, returns to the office complaining of headache, restlessness and confusion. Shortly, he becomes unconscious. His body temperature is 40°C. What first aid steps would you take to revive him?

These are the symptoms of “heatstroke”. Hence the Treatment should  be:

• Move the victim to a cooler environment immediately
• Cover him with a towel/blanket soaked with water to cool the victim’s body.
• Loosen clothing and ensure that the person gets plenty of ventilation.
• When he gains consciousness, immediately give him water containing salt or lemon juice.

2 markers

4. Comment on each of the following in about 20 words each: 2X5=10

Patharughat

• The significance of Patharughat in the Indian freedom struggle
• It is a place in Assam, where the peasant took British bullets while protesting exorbitant taxes slapped on them at Patharughat in Darrang district in 1894.
• Also known as Jallianwala Bagh of Assam.

Bagurumba folk dance

• folk dance of Assam
• performed by the Bodos
• also called “butterfly dance” because the combination of costume colors and movements resemble the movement  butterflies.

Presidential Elections

1. Determining the ‘value’ assigned to the vote of a Member of a State Legislative Assembly and of a Member of Parliament  in the Indian Presidential elections.

Value of one vote of an MLA=

=[(total population of state) / (Total number of elected MLAs of the state)] x 1/1000

Value of one vote of an MP

=Total value of votes of all MLAs of all states / Total number of Elected MPs

SPOT-6

2. Significance of the SPOT-6 rocket launch for ISRO

• SPOT 6 is a French satellite, launched by ISRO in its 100^th mission.
• From Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

Recall that article: Nirbhay, NAG, NAMICA, Helina, LAHAT, Tropex-2012, RISAT, SPOT-6: https://mrunal.org/2012/09/science-nag-helina.html

Sainath

3. Issues highlighted through the work of Palagumrni Sainath

• As a journalist, he wrote about Famine,hunger, social problems, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermaths of globalization in India.
• Famous for his book Everybody Loves a Good Drought, got Magsaysay Award for it.

1 marker: Person in News (PIN)

5. Why have the following been in the news recently?. (Answer to be in one sentence only). 1X5=5

1. P.V. Sindhu : Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, she is a  badminton player from Andhra. Was in news because she reached upto semi-finals in China Masters Super Series badminton tournament in 2012.
2. Aditya Kumar Mandi : Constable in CISF, writes poems in Santhali language. Was given Sahitya Akademi award in 2011.
3. Cyrus Mistry: appointed deputy chairman of Tata Group. He will begin serving as chairman when Ratan Tata retires in December 2012.
4. Ashoke Sen:  Scientist from Kolkata, known from Contributions to string field theory, won Yuri Milner award in 2012.
5. Mario de Miranda: cartoonist from Goa, worked for Times of India and Illustriated Weekly of India. died in 2011, given Given Padam Vibushan in 2012.

Both Ashoke Sen and Miro Miaranda were covered in PIN (Person in News Article): https://mrunal.org/2012/10/pin-2012.html

^Ok this is all from Paper 1. Now let us check Paper 2.

Paper II

4. Answer the following in not more than 50 words each: (5×6=30)

1. The Sequoia supercomputer was launched this year. What are its specific features and what is its purpose?

Features

• 1.6 petabytes of memory
• Can perform 20 x 10^15 operations every second.

Purpose

• Research, Development, Advanced Simulation and Computing in the field of weapons performance, notably hydrodynamics and properties of materials at extreme pressure and temperatures
• supercomputer simulations will support the help to extend the life of aging nuclear weapons systems of US

G8+5

2. What is meant by the G8+5 group?

is a political term used to describe an international group which consists of the leaders of

G8 nations	+5 Emerging economies.
Canada France Germany Italy Japan Russia UK US	Brazil China India Mexico South Africa

Papiloma Virus

3. The Human Papilloma Virus vaccine has been making the headlines in the recent months. Who make the ideal candidates for receiving this vaccine and what are its benefits?

HPV is responsible for Cervical Cancer and sexually transmitted infections.

Ideal Candidates for vaccine= young women in 9 to 25 years age group, who have not been exposed to HPV. (Although USFDA has approved it for both men and women).

What are its benefits= can help prevent future HPV infection, cervical cancer. And thus reduce the costs associated with future medical care, biopsies, and Pap tests.

South China

4. What are India’s stakes in the South China Sea?

• South China sea is a potential crude oil source, in the South coast of Vietnam.
• Petrovietnam (State oil co of Vietnaam) had contracted ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) to explore the oil field in South China sea.
• But China is opposed to this Development.

Go through South China article for more on this: https://mrunal.org/2012/07/diplo-schina-auction.html

5. Explain the concepts “Environmental Sustainabilty” and “Sustainable Development of People”.

Environmental Sustainabilty

• Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals
• Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss.
• Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
• By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

Sustainable Development of People

• Sustainable development means, meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Social development works to empower the poor to expand their use of available resources in order meet their own needs, and change their own lives.
• Special attention is paid to women, children, people of indigenous cultures, people with disabilities.

Go through RIO+20 article for more on this: https://mrunal.org/2012/09/diplomacy-rio20-meaning-outcomes-explain.html

CDM

6. Explain briefly the “Clean Development Mechanism” as provided under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

• CDM is provided by Kyoto Protocol.
• It helps Annex I parties in achieveing their Greenhouse gas reduction commitments.
• It allows them to buy carbon credits and invest in clean energy projects in non-annex countries.

Go through Kyoto Article for more on this: https://mrunal.org/2012/09/enb-kyoto.html