ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

SYLLABUS
Deconstruction of syllabus / expectation of UPSC
● Remain as close to topic as possible
● Concise presentation
a. Specific
b. Yet explanatory
● Arrange your arguments in a orderly fashion
a. Flow ⇒ coherence
■ Make use of subheadings
■ Linking statement → Write something about what u have Already written & write
something about what u r going to write
● Exact & effective expression will be rewarded

Introductions

Movies eg
● Taren zameen pr
● Baagwan

Poems
● Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection..
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake - Tagore
● https://www.evernote.com/shard/s430/sh/eee5c597-1e00-4279-b6d2-763fd59c4d48/6d825a449d86023c2457f

Quotes
● Nearly all men can withstand adversity, but if want to test a man’s character, give him power -
abraham lincoln
● I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies - aristotle
● Good of individual is contained in the good of all
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Integrity without knowledge is weak & useless, but knowledge without integrity is dangerous &
dreadful - Aristotle
● We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid
of the light
● Kaun kehta hai asman me surakh nahi hota ek pathhar to tbiyat se uchhalo yaro
● Aisi vano boliye, mann ka aapa khoye, auron ko sheetal kare, aphu sheetal hoye
● Koshish karne walo ki kabhi har nahi hoti
● Ye mat kaho khuda se meri mushkile badi hain, mushkilo se kehdo mera khuda bada hai.
● We can’t help everyone but, everyone can help someone - Ronald Reagon
● The world is changed by your example, not by ur opinion
Education quotes
● Education is the most powerful weapon u can use to change the world - Nelson mandela (poverty)
● Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if u were to live forever - Gandhi
● At the end of the life it is not the fact that we have lived, it is the difference we have made to the
lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead - Nelson mandela
● “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” Margaret Mead
● “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learnt in school.”- Einstein
● “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Aristotle
● Education is a bridge from misery to hope
● “Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man.” Swami Vivekananda
● Education that does not mould the character is absolutely worthless. – Mahatma Gandhi
● To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to the society – Theodore
Roosevelt
● “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” - Martin Luther King
● “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” ―
Brigham Young

Poverty & inequality

● If a free society cannot help the many who are poor it cannot save the few who are rich - J F
Kennedy
● Education is the most powerful weapon u can use to change the world - Nelson mandela (poverty)
● Poverty anywhere is threat to prosperity everywhere.
● “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” Mahatma Gandhi

Science & Religion

● “Science without Religion is lame and Religion without Science is blind” Einstein

Democracy
● “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
Churchill
● “The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so much dangerous to the public welfare as the
apathy of a citizen in a democracy” Montesquieu
● “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” Abraham Lincoln
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● ”I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.” Gandhi
● “Democracy is not law of the majority but protection of the minority.” Albert Camus
● “The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” - Plato

Peace & justice

● “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” William
Gladstone
● “Peace and Justice are two sides of the same coin.” Eisenhower
● Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a
theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed – Eisenhower
● The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.”
● “There was never a bad peace or a good war.”
● “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
● War does not decide who is right but who is left.”
● Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu (Let the whole world be prosperous and peaceful)

Free speech
● I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. – Voltaire

Judiciary
● Yatho Dharma Thatho Jayaha: Where there is justice, there is victory.

Corruption
● As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in remaking the world but inremaking ourselves -
Mahatma Gandhi
● Confucius - Righteousness is the foundation stone of peace and good governance.
● Buddha - Dharma is the foundation stone of good governance
● The worst disease in the world today is corruption. And there is a cure: transparency
● Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Environment
● A nation that destroys its soil, destroy itself
● The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth
● “The world has enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.” Mahatma
Gandhi
● Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans
● We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it for our children.
● We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

Quotes by Mahatma Gandhi

● “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
● “Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.”
● “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
● “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”
● “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.”
● “The good man is the friend of all living things.”
● “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”
● “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
● “Violent means will give violent freedom.”
● “There is higher courts than courts of justice and that is conscience.”
● “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonesty.”
● “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”

● Ye desh hai tumhara neta tumhi ho kal k ( this country is urs, u r the leader of tomorrow ), rakh
doge ek din tum sansar o badal k ( one day u will change the whole world)
● Sehansheelta kshma daya ko tbhi poojta jag hai bal ka deep chamakta uske piche jab jagmag hai (
tolerance, forgiveness, mercy are revered by the world when the power of the force shones behind
it -RamDhari singh dinkar
● Dont like the rule, follow it, reach at the top & change it - Hitler
● 'Our Greatest Glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall' - Confucius
● Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile- Albert Einstein
● cited poem Invictus 'I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul' --- obvious step
after falling is to pick oneself up
● Jab me tha tab hari nahi, ab hari hai me nahi, Prem gali ati sankari jame 2 na samayen
● Mera mujhme kuch nahi, sab kuch hai tor, Tera tujhko soapta kya lage hain mor
● I am not what I think I am, I am not what I think who I am, I am what I think that what u think
about myself
● I know only I thing that I know nothing- Socrates
● I think therefore I am - descartes
● When you build up in silence people don’t know what to attack.
● Everyone wants decentralisation but only until his level
● Democracy is not the law of majority but protection of minority - Albert Camus
● “As the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral (a schoolteacher herself) so poignantly
said,
● ‘We are guilty of many crimes,
but our worst sin is abandoning the child; neglecting foundation of life.
Many of the things we need can wait; the child cannot.”
● Nelson Mandela had said that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in
which it treats its children”.
● “If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbours.
If there is to be peace between neighbours, There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart.” ― Lao-tse
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● A man is the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes - Gandhi

● Kindness is the langauage which the deaf can hear & the blind can see - Mark Twain
● Be kind, for everyone u meet is fighting a hard battle - plato
● है बहुत अंधियार अब सू रज निकलिा चानहए, जजस तरह से भी हो ये मौसम बदलिा चानहए —गोपालदास "िीरज”
● According to gandhi violence is a messy weapon & can never give us lasting peace
● Peace built on the barrel of gun is a fragile peace, peace built upon mutual corparyion & shared love & respect
is a lasting peace
● Knowledge without character is futile - Gandhi

Anecdotes
1. https://epaper.thehindu.com/ccidist-ws/th/th_delhi/issues/20322/OPS/GB5AN3NB0.1+GOOAhttps://epaper.thehindu.com/ccidist-ws/th/th_delhi/issues/20322/OPS/GB5AN3NB0.1+GOOAN3T

2. Vivekanand in search of knowledge - someone says go with paramhansa for teacher - teacher says- kon hai
- vivek says yahi to janne aaya hu me kon hu
3. A study showed that 230 million Indians slid into poverty due to COVID-19. The ASER report shows
the abysmal state of education — many Class 5 students are unable to read a Class 2 textbook.
NFHS-5 data show that among children aged below five years, 35.5% were stunted and 32.1% were
underweight.
4. Budget that was presented recently, has received almost universal praise in the English language
media. Clearly, those who praise it are happy with their own economic situation or at least view
their economic future as bright. How representative this cohort is moot. Anyhow, they see the
Budget as pro-growth, and their prognosis is plausible. India it seems is on a roll as far as
economic growth is concerned. But is income all we should be concerned with when valuing an
economy?will the economic growth lead to employment opportunities for a growing population of
youth and generate the social and physical infrastructure necessary for a good life? Or will it
magnify the rising economic inequality and ecological insecurity? None of these outcomes is
inevitable but a creative economic management of the growth process would be necessary to bring
about the positive ones and to avert those that are negative.
Environment
5. htter.thehindu.com/
6. Not a single photo of 9/11 → all media people burn all the taps & in Bombay
attack 1 fellow (unni krishnan) lost his life just bcz of live telecast -
killer could know exact location of unni kissan and kill him ⇒ link with credit rating
of india → FDI
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

7. Divya devarajan, a 2010 batch IAS officer was recently honoured by Natives of adilabad, Telangana who
names a village Divyagudi to appreciate all the work she had done in the conflict ridden region in 2017
when posting in adilabad, Divya was shocked by poor condition- in health, education and other basic amenities in the
village To address issues at root, she made sincere effort like appointing language translators, making government
services more accessible, to learning to language herself, her sincere effort to learn Gondi language in 3 months
cemented her relationship with villagers she after goes on field trips to understand the issues and listen the people
when asked about her motivation she replies ‘’it is the happy and satisfied faces of villagers that make me realise the
worth of my work responsibilities’’
8. Is India self-reliant? Have we achieved swaraj? Does poverty still prevail? Has India been able to
reap the demographic dividend? Have we broken the caste barriers? Is gender justice really
achieved ? Are we truly the world’s largest successful democracy? Are fundamental rights still
protected ? Have we forgotten the past when the US denied food to India under the PL480
scheme in the 1960s ? & also the humiliation India faced when US denied satellite data during
kargil war ? NO
Science & technology
9. In William Golding’s famous novel, Lord of the Flies, Jack emphasises the importance of following
rules and establishing a system of governance among the boys. He says, “We’re not savages. We’re
English, and the English are best at everything. So, we’ve got to do the right things.” It is a story of
a group of boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their failed attempt at self-
governance. In the end, all the boys end up becoming nothing short of savages. The book illustrates
the significance of rules and the negative outcomes that can result from their absence. If nothing
else, it is a governance lesson for govts and regulators. It demonstrates how self-regulation or no
regulation can be disastrous at times. This lesson is particularly relevant in the context of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) regulations in India.
There is often a lag b/w new technologies and enactment of laws to address the issues and
challenges they create. In India, the legal framework related to AI is insufficient to adequately
address the various issues that have arisen due to AI algorithms. The Union govt should introduce
separate legislation regulating the nefarious use of deepfakes and the broader subject of AI.
Legislation should not hamper innovation in AI, but it should recognise that deepfake technology
may be used in the commission of criminal acts and should provide provisions to address the use of
deepfakes in these cases. The proposed Digital India Bill can also address this issue. We can’t
always rely on the policy of self-regulation. At least, that is what the Lord of the Flies has taught us.
10. The light of life: Once there was a Spiritual teacher who wanted to train his two disciples by
giving them a practical task, "Take 100 Rs each of you" he said "and use it to fill up your rooms
with whatever you are able to purchase. In five days´ time I will return to inspect your work."
When he returned and visited the room of the first disciple, he saw it had been filled up with
rags. That disciple had thought that by hook or by crook he had to, somehow or other, fill up the
room, and since rags were the cheapest items to purchase, he had chosen them. The guru was
duly shocked. When the guru came to inspect the second room, he saw that it had been filled up -
not only once, but twice and his disciple returned 80 Rs back to him and said, "Sir, I only needed
20 Rs to fill the room twice." He had lit a ghee lamp in the middle of room, along with an incense
stick. Light and fragrance were spreading everywhere, from top to bottom, from left to right,
from the front to the rear. The delighted teacher said, "You have truly understood. Life is very
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

much like an empty room. It should be filled with the light of knowledge and the fragrance of
service, and not with the discarded filthy things of this world.
11. APJ Abdul Kalam’s family became poor due to business failure. At an early age he sold newspapers
to supplement his family's income. In his school years, he had average grades but had a strong
desire to learn. He used to spend hours studying. He worked very hard, but still, he missed out on
fulfilling his dream of becoming a fighter pilot. Later he joined Aeronautical Development
Establishment of DRDO as a scientist. After he was transferred to ISRO, where he was the project
director of India's first satellite vehicle launch. It was his great talent that make the missile man of
India. He served as the 11th President of India. No matter what high position he held, he always
called himself a teacher. He believed in removing poverty and converting religion into spirituality
among the solutions to solve the world's problems. He taught people to stay connected with
everyone and spread positive thoughts. He taught youth to take responsibility and work towards
development with integrity and dedication. It was not his words but his personality that spoke. He
was an ordinary man but of extraordinary character. This is a rare combination. He reached various
destinations in life, met many men, gave the best to them and moved on.
12. “Even if we are nearly 7 decades moved from the magic moment of that ‘tryst with destiny’, we
have weathered four wars and an Emergency, conducted 17 general elections, changed our govts
peacefully, defused separatist movements in places as far afield as Punjab and Mizoram, and seen
Rashtrapati Bhavan occupied by three Muslims, a Dalit, a woman & a dalit women. Bollywood, yoga
and chicken tikka masala have conquered the globe; we have won two cricket World Cups and
invented the IPL. And the mass media, especially our countless television channels, have brought
us all together in the nationalism of shared experience: We have watched corrupt officials ‘stung’
on camera, applauded stirring moments on the sports field, screamed a collective ‘chak de!’ and
mourned together for the victims of Kargil. The Information Age gave Indians a greater sense of
who we are: a multi-religious people united by the Mahabharat on television, a land of IIT
graduates with a third of the world’s illiterate children. ‘We are like this only’, goes the wry line, as
we acknowledge the paradoxes of our country. We are large, we contain multitudes”
Is this the 21st century republic that Ambedkar and Gandhi dreamt of?
13. In 1980s, Mizoram was boiling with insurgency and strife. Mizo National front led violent demands
for autonomy and independance due to lack of development in the area. Finally, in 1986 Mizo
Accord (based on statehood, amnesty, inclusive). MNF u/ Laldenga - contested polls. Eventually
became CM of state - vision of making Mizoram Switzerland of East. Today, near 100% literacy and
model of peace. It is called the only insurgency in the world that ended with a “stroke of pen”
14. Albert Einstein - During childhood, he suffered from continuous failures. He was not even able to
speak fluently till the age of nine years following which he has been expelled from the school. Won
the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921
15. Story of Orville and Wilbur Wright - Journalists, friends, and even their father laughed at the idea
of an airplane. "What a silly and insane way to spend money. Leave flying to the birds," they jeered.
"Sorry," the Wright brothers responded. "We have a dream, and we can make it happen."
16. BR Ambedkar was born in Mahar caste which was considered as untouchables. One day young
Bhimrao drank water from a public water tank and he was beaten mercilessly for this. As a child he
was not allowed to study sanskrit bcz of him belonging to a lower caste. These incidents had a deep
impact on his life.
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

BR Ambedkar went on to become one of the most literate Indian of his generation. Ambedkar was
the first Indian to pursue an Economics doctorate degree abroad. He was also the first Ph.D. in
Economics and the first double doctorate holder in Economics in South Asia. During his three years
at Columbia University, Ambedkar took twenty-nine courses in economics, eleven in history, six in
sociology, five in philosophy, four in anthropology, three in politics and one each in elementary
French and German.
In 1927, Ambedkar launched Mahad satyagrah to fight for the right of the untouchable community
to draw water from the main water tank of the town. By leading a group of Dalits to drink water
from Chavadar lake in Mahad, Ambedkar didn’t just assert the right of Dalits to take water from
public water sources, he sowed the seeds of Dalit emancipation.
Ambedkar was an economist, educationist and the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He
dedicated his life to fight discrimination, degradation and deprivation faced by lower caste.
Lessons: Perseverance and Dedication, Rationality and Reason, Social equality, Humanism,
Dignity for all, Courage.
17. On the 2nd of Oct, 1869, in Kirti Mandir, Porbandar..in that tiny abode, not just a person, an era was
born, that charted the course of human history on a new path.
18. About 23 years ago, Bobi started dancing and singing on the streets of Sultanpuri in northwest
Delhi with a group of transgender people at weddings for money.Fast forward to Dec 7, Ms. Bobi,
38, took out a rally on the same streets, standing on a jeep with garlands around her neck and
dozens of supporters raising slogans for her. For, she just won the election on Aam Aadmi Party
ticket to become the first transgender councillor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
19. This is the garden of Buddha and Nanak
a. The flowers of peace bloom here
b. Gandhi, Subhash, Tagore, Tilak are the flowers that bloom in this garden
c. Green is from Hari Singh Nalwe, Red from Lal Bahadur Shastri Saffron from Bhagat Singh
And The shade of peace from JL Nehru's
d. My country's soil where crops grow like gold, diamonds and pearls -Manoj Kumar,
Upkaar, 1967
20. A 6 yr old boy was in the market with his 4 yr old sister. Suddenly the boy found that his sister was
lagging. He stopped and looked back. His sister was standing in front of a toy shop and was
watching something with great interest. The boy went back to her and asked, "Do you want
something ?" The sister pointed at the doll. The boy held her hand and like a responsible elder
brother, gave that doll to her. The sister was very very happy...The shopkeeper was watching
everything and getting amused to see the mature behaviour of the boy...Now the boy came to the
counter and asked the shopkeeper, "What is the cost of this doll, Sir !" The shopkeeper was a cool
man and had experienced the odds of life. So he asked the boy with a lot of love & affection, "Well,
What can you pay ?" The boy took out all the shells that he had collected from the sea shore, from
his pocket and gave them to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took the shells and started counting
as if he were counting the currency. Then he looked at the boy. The boy asked him worriedly, "Is it
less?" The shopkeeper said," No, No... These are more than the cost. So I will return the
remaining." Saying so, he kept only 4 shells with him and returned the remaining. The boy very
happily kept those shells back in his pocket and went away with his sister. A servant in that shop
got very surprised watching all these. He asked his master, "Sir! You gave away such a costly doll
just for 4 shells ???" The shopkeeper said with a smile, "Well, for us these are mere shells. But for
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

that boy, these shells are very precious. And at this age, he does not understand what money is, but
when he will grow up, he definitely will. And when he would remember that he purchased a doll
with the Shells instead of Money, he will remember me and think that the world is full of Good
people. It will help him develop a positive attitude and he too in turn will feel motivated to be Good.
Whatever emotion you infuse into the world, it will further spread. If you do good, goodness will
spread. If you do bad, negativity will spread. Realize you are a very powerful source of energy.
Your good or bad will come back to you magnified. Not in the ways you want it, and probably not
in the ways you can understand it. But it will come back*
21. In the scorching heat of June, as the sun was shining with brilliance, a Mundane news broke out.
A young, talented & famous actor had committed suicide! Abundant of all Monetary flamboyance
one could think of, this news shook me to the core. As grief spread all around, i kept on
pondering over “does the pursuit of happiness lie in the pursuit of wealth?
22. The words of Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest theoretical physicist and cosmologist of our
times may be offending- ‘We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very
average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.’ Human
beings are different from animals in so far as nature has given them brains to think and analyze.
But this capacity may be used for productivity and creativity or destruction. The great scientist has
compared us with monkeys, just an advanced breed, which means that our instincts are still animal
instincts with a little difference that comes through education and civilization. This thinking and
analyzing capacity has led to the progress of human society. Science and technology has
influenced the course of human history immensely- from fire to wheels, battle tanks to nuclear
bombs, antibiotic to music, management to accounts, etc. But the capacity to think and analyse,
which makes the human beings special, has the potential of venturing into the science of violence
and war, profit and exploitation, over exploitation of natural resource and disturbing the eco-
system and environment, breaking the vital links between the nature and human life. Genetic
engineering, biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences, science of food processing, etc. are
considered as double edged swords as they serve the needs of society on the one hand but there side
effects lead to irreparable damages to nature and the human society. In this sense, it is close to the
reality that science never solves a problem without creating ten, a statement made by one of the
great English dramatists of modern times George Bernard Shaw.
23. Great spiritual author and thinker Aldous Huxley also says, “Technological progress has merely
provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.”
24. What is success- Wealth and power, or a sense of happiness and fulfillment that one has lived a
beautiful and meaningful life? There is a perpetual conflict in our minds regarding the actual
meaning of success so much so that great thinker Albert Camus said ‘you will never be happy if you
continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the
meaning of life.’ The mundane meaning of success lies in acquisition of precious things, access to
comforts and luxuries of life and power to dominate etc. However, success in the broader sense
comprises living well, accomplishing the mission or task which we assign to ourselves, getting love
and appreciation, getting opportunity to feel the beauty and bounty of nature and leaving the world
better than one inherited.
25. A boy left empty handed some hundreds years ago from Marwar region of Rajasthan and he had
nothing in mind but to create wealth to defeat poverty which so much perturbed him. He rose up to
become Ghanshyam Das Birla, an icon of enterprise. The Dhirubhai Ambani episode from poor
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

petrol filling boy in 1948 to a Rs. 70,000 crore success story by 2001 is no less inspiring. Where
means was a constraint? It was not money that drove them. They were driven by mission to
succeed in their chosen areas. An extremely poor boy from Allahabad becomes Prime Minister of
India (Lal Bahadur Shastri), another poor boy from Kanyakumari becomes a great scientist and the
President of India (APJ Abdul Kalam), a boy who did not have even a radio and who used to stop at a
betel shop to listen to classical songs from Akashvani becomes one of the greatest exponents of
Hindustani classical music (Pd. Bhimsen Joshi), these are all miracles propelled by strong sense of
mission and nothing else.
26. One of the laborers on a temple construction site expressed his misery that he has to carry bricks
throughout the day, while the other felt happiness that he was contributing in the construction
of one of the most beautiful temples in the region. These two motives give different types of
energy and motivation

Body

Linking statements
Beginning
● Let us first sort out the meaning of ‘________
● Politically too, globalisation has had a tremendous impact……

After para
● Thus we have examined the threat posed by AI to our economy, but what about the challenges
brought by AI to our ethics and morals?
● Further, we must be mindful of the fact that Artificial Intelligence poses a major challenge not
just economically, but also ethically. → then start ethical points in next para
● A disturbing question haunts/dwells over the mind - Does X lead to ABC? Or is it XYZ? Sadly, the
latter seems more evident.
● <Then talk about XYZ and later bring ABC too in discussion>
● The situation seems gloomy but /silver lining too/vast opportunities waiting to be exploited
● Not all is hunky-dory (fine)
● Next, we will examine this and how its (science etc) not a panacea
● Shouldn't confuse the unknown with the impossible
● Due to problem of xyz, Govt launched gamut of schemes like
● “What are the major challenges that we face in this endeavour?”
● ______to name just a few.
● out-of-the-box thinking to solve the problem. Joining the dots, it seems clear that
reforms inspired by convention will be pretty much like rearranging the deck chairs on the
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

sinking Titanic. So, do we have other instruments, resources and methods? Here are three
which are doable, do not cost much, and yield solutions.
● To recall Sri Aurobindo in his great writing The Hour of God, the moment has arrived; but will we lose
it because the lamp has not been kept trimmed for the welcome and the ears are sealed to the call?
● It reemphasizes
● Taking inspiration from the words of
● Here a age old proverb
● As it is rightly held
● In the backdrop of recent report by IPCC, it has been a pertinent issue how to ensure balance
between
●

Good lines
● country which was the largest defence importer for decades has now started exporting defence
equipment to 75 countries in the world.
● “The new India of the 21st century will neither miss any opportunity nor will it lack any effort,
● All outstanding people have one thing in common: An absolute sense of mission– Zig Ziglar
● Paolo Coelho, the great motivational writer rightly says that when we truly love something from the core of
our heart, the whole cosmos conspires in our favour.
● The road to success is rocky, long and arduous.
● ‘Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life- think of it dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain,
muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone.’
This is the way to success- Swami vivekananda

Eg
● Mahendra S Dhoni, a footballer turned cricketer, son of a poor plumber and water pump operator, is today one
of the most successful captains of Indian cricket and an industry in himself worth Rs. 1000 crore
● Nirbhaya incident in India or Mukhtaran bibi in Pakistan epitomize the male mindset even in modern times.

Subheadings
● Looking back in time
● From policy to the ground level
● Prospects(Pol,Eco,Socially) → issues→ challenges → way forward
● Journey so far
● Sunny side ….but Grey clouds too
● Health Care system : a dismal state of affair
● a double-edged sword
● All that glitter is not gold
● Silver lining in dark cloud
● Time for fresh thinking
● Climate change : a daunting challenge
● How learning leads to change: across time & space
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Learning & change : the barriers

● Learning & change : towards a better future
● Let’s hit reset and reimagine a new world.
● The known and proven solutions
● X & Y : Brothers in arms
● X, Y : promise or peril
● X, Y : 2 sides of coin
● A double edged sword
● Across space & time
● The barriers
● Considering the flip side
● window of opportunity
● Towards managing conflict & building harmony
● Towards a first society better future

Conclusions
● "Despite our clear priorities, we have a long way to go to fulfil this particular tryst with destiny."
● "It is only through free, unified and collective mobilisation that India can achieve lasting peace,
justice and prosperity. India's founding fathers understood this necessity, it must remain at the
heart of our future.
● Shikwa-e-zulmat-e-shab se to behtar tha Apne hisse ki koi shama jalate jate
● Hum tod rahe hain janjire
Hum badal rahe hain takdire
Ambar se ucha jana hai
Ek bharat naya banana hai
Aur naye vishva ki nayi tarango se bhi uper jana hai
Ek bharat naya banana hai ! - honourable PM Modi highlighted dream of new india
How much better it would have been, if instead of going on cursing the dark of the evening, we had
lit the candle that was within our hands to light.- Ahmed Faraz
● Kabir on the need to look within The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders
in quest of grass
● We must accept finite disappointments, but never lose infinite hope- Martin Luther King
● Lets have a passion for compassion Long yrs ago , we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time
comes when we shall redeem our pledge…At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps,
India will awake to life and freedom
● While it has been nearly 70 years since Indian independance, we have lot of ground to cover
● There are huge challenges but also huge opportunities in expanding and diversifying cooperation to
mutual advantage. Now is the time for fresh thinking on a host of issues, including economic
recovery; bilateral, sub-regional and regional cooperation; restructuring supply chains; human as
well as conventional security; energy cooperation; development; people-to-people contacts; and the
untapped potential for technology to accelerate inclusive growth, and soft power to maximise mutual
advantage.
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● “While Babasaheb Ambedkar and others gave us a map and a moral framework, the task of walking
that path remains our responsibility. We have largely remained true to their expectations, and yet we
realise that much remains to be done to realise Gandhiji’s ideal of sarvodaya, the upliftment of all.”
● Vivekananda - Arise Awake and Stop Not until the goal is reached
● MG’s Talisman can provide an ultimate way to select right path

For Solution -

● The Chinese word for Crisis (Weiji) has two characters - one for ‘Danger’ and other for
‘Opportunity'
● Strike when the iron is hot
● Einstein said madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results
● Gandhi’s Talisman
● Best time to plant a tree was 20 yrs ago, 2nd best time is now
● For a Solution thats not good -
○ It inoculates against measles with a serum of plague
○ The remedy shouldn’t be worse than the disease
● Let us not try to bridge this gap through the sufferings of the marginalised else our glitzy dreams
into nightmares.
● Whenever Gandhis 7 sins as pre conclusion - whenever world faces dark, a frail man and his
prescriptions..
● The NEP 2020 lays emphasis on developing the “creative potential” and “higher-order cognitive capacities” of
students. That includes “critical thinking and problem solving” apart from “social, ethical, and emotional
capacities and dispositions.
● Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and now Sabka Prayas are vital for the achievement of
our goals .
● Mahatma Gandhi had once pointed out seven sins as follows: “Wealth without work Pleasure
without conscience Science without humanity Knowledge without character Politics without
principle Commerce without morality Worship without sacrifice.” If we remember these sins
and vow never to commit them, science will solve the problems and will not create ten problems!
● Gandhi has rightly pointed out that a small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable
faith in their mission can alter the course of history. 4. Character determines destiny

Steps involved in essay writing

How to chose the topic
● If u have content
● Did u understand theme of essay topic & explore it from 6-7 dimensions
● Do u have eg’s/ Facts/ Data/ report/ quotes etc to support your argument
● Level of emotional attachment with topic
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Topic that can be written in multidimensional way

How to do brainstorming
● Identify broad themes after converting topic into question,for eg
● Biased media is a threat to indian democracy ⇒ IS Biased media is a threat to indian democracy
???
a. What is media
b. What are diff. Manifestation of media
c. Significance of media wrt indian democracy
d. What are the threats of biased media
e. Why media is becoming biased → Pol, social, eco factors
f. What needs to be done
● Life is a long journey from human being to being humane ⇒ IS life a long journey from human
being to being humane ??
a. What do u mean by human being
b. How is is different from being humane
c. Different manifestation of being humane
d. Significance of BH for society
e. What if we fail to develop this virtue
f. How it is developed
g. Why it is referred as long journey
h. Challenges in developing this virtue
i. What needs to be done
How to write a well organised essay
● Introduction - Dil pe hamla karna hai examiner ki
a. Tell them, what u are going to tell them
b. Relevant to theme of essay
c. Captivating & interesting
d. Quotes (Max 3), Anecdotes, Premise / Background
e. Movie - Recent/ old - Dialogue/ Scenes/ songs
f. Constitution article
g. Statistics / Report/ Current development
h. Deconstruct the topic/ defining part
i. Posing question , Paradox, Conversation
j. WWWWWH
■ What, What not, Why, When, Where , Who, How

■
● Body
a. Tell them
● Conclusion
a. Based on what u have told them, provide a futuristic vision
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

Does
● Write small para ⇒ at least 2-3 paras in 1 page
● 1 Argument/ Dimension in 1 para
● 2-3 statements in every para → wrote small statements
● 5-6 highlighting in a single side

●
Dont
● No bullet points
● No abbreviations
● Avoid diagrams ( or at max 1 Map etc)

Introduction (150-200 words)

● 3 parts of intro
○ Quotes / anecdotes/ premise/ poem etc
○ Explain relevance of part-1 with theme of essay
○ Tell the reader, what can be expected from the essay

Body of Essay (800 words)

Multidimensional
● Sectoral dimensions (causes)
○ Historical, Social, Political, Economic, Cultural, Ethical, Environmental, structural,
religious, philosophical
● Temporal dimension (eg)
○ Ancient, Mediaeval, Modern, Post-independence, Post- Glo., Present
○ Pre british, Post British, Post- independence, Post globalisation
○ History, Present, Future, international
● _______: Prospects, issues, challenges
○ Prospects → positive implication
■ Social , eco, poli….
■ Individual, society, nation, global
○ Issues → observable
○ Challenges → why not still able to deal
● Social issues
○ Concept/ statistics→ Causes → Implication → Govt effort→ Lacunae → Way forward
● Implication approach (for impact related questions)
○ Individual → society→ national → global
● Sectional approach (for impact related questions)
○ Child, Women, old age, Pwd, SC/ST, Transgender, ethinic minorities
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Institutional approach (while citing eg) (sol)

○ Media, defence, election commission , judiciary , ISRO , Family, Parliaments

Conclusion (150-200 words)

Do not
● Do NOT summarise
● Do not write in 1-2 statements
● Do not start a fresh argument
● Do not be apologetic in your tone
2 parts of conclusion
● Penultimate conclusion (way forward) → ~100-150 words
○ If solutions not provided earlier simultaneously
○ Firstly, secondly, thirdly……….
○ Socially, economically, political solutions……………………
○ At individual level, societal level, national level, global level…………
○ Infrastructural way forward, Implementational WF, Attitudinal WF
○ Short term(Practical), long term solutions(Utopian)
● Ultimate conclusion (Overall inference) → ~50 words
○ When solutions are already there in above paras

SOCIAL THEMES

MEDIA
Quotes
● Arthur miller→ a good newspaper i believe is the nation talking to itself
● Warren christopher → an independent & free media is essential to ensure democracy
● M. katju → in the current context issue with media is that it is trevilizing the issue , dividing people oj
primordial lines , lack of desire to serve public interest
● खखखखख ख खखखखखख खख ख खखखखख खखखखखख, खख खखख खखखखखखखख खख खख खखखखखख खखखखखख
Don't pull the arrows, don't take out the sword, when the cannon is fit, take out the newspaper.
● Pen is mightier than sword
● खख खख खखखखख खख खख खखखखखख, खखखख खख,खख खखखखख खखख खख खखख खखखख खखखख Newspapers,
which used to be sold in print, I have heard, these days they are sold for print.

Anecdotes
Obama speech just before ending his term address media houses in the white house
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Said media should not be sycophants media should be sceptic, media should ask us difficult questions,
media should not be complementary to us, media should caste a critical eye on us, & make sure we are
accountable to the public who has voted us to power
Data
● Press freedom index - 142/180
● Eg (+ve, -ve from international domain )
● Eg of People oriented agenda based journalism / investigative journalism
○ P sainath done significant work wrt
■ Rural distress
■ Farmer suicide
■ Issue of mass migration
● Negative eg
○ Fox news during trump
○ Sensational news
○ Aryan khan
○ Bachpan ka pyar

Historical
● Role of media during freedom struggle
○ Resentment
○ Social change
○ Masses
○ Not a single photo of 9/11 → all media people burn all the taps
○ Bombay attack 1 fellow (unni kisnan) lost his life just bcz of live telecast -killer
could know exact location of unni kissan and kill him

What is media
● Channel of communication through which news,education, entertainment, information is
disseminated

Different manifestation of media

● Radio, magazines, Newspaper, T.V, Social media

Role of media vis-a-vis democracy

● Political
○ Prevent govt from making disruptive policies
○ Voice of stakeholders
○ Checks & balances
○ Policy inputs
○ Draw attention of govt on critical issues
○ Ensue A/C & transparency good governance
○ Ensures smooth governance by creating acceptability of govt policies among public
○ Estab legitimacy of govt
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

○ Provide platform deliberation, debate & discussion

○ Strengthens political culture
■ Culture of participative consultative and bottom up
○ Transform citizens from passive recipient to active participant
● Economy
○ Livelihood opportunity
○ Unlashing various acts of corruption → scams
○ Ensure equality wrt distribution of benefits
○ Economic evaluation of various schemes
○ Holding govt accountable wrt how budget utilise
○ Crowdfunding
● Social
○ Generate awareness among people wrt their rights & entitlements
○ Provides platform for collective mobilisation of people on different issues
○ Ensures subjective realisation of objective reality
○ Provide platform for carrying out social movement to bring social change in society
● Cultural
○ Removal of prejudice / stereotypes
○ Awareness wrt diverse culture
○ Tolerance accommodation of diversity
○ Promoting unity in diversity
● Environment
○ Sustainable development
○ Climate Change
● Ethical
○ Imp agent of socialisation
○ Vicarious reinforcements / observable learning → Bachpan ka pyar
Issues wrt media
● Becoming lapdog instead of watchdog
● Biased media
● Paid media
● Mfg journalism
● Commercialisation
○ Task to austin 24 x 7 views
○ Financial viability → depends on resources from Corporate houses
■ Political parties ⇒ politicisation of news
● Reciprocal obligation
● Image building
● Agenda building
● Fake news
○ Dronacharya - ashwatthama, yudhishthir eg
● Misrepresentation of facts
● Partial coverage
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Becoming opinion based instead of information based platform

● Sensationalization of news
● Trial by media
● Post truth journalism
● Hence biased media creates a vicious circle which swallows the democracy from within

Way forward → IAI

● Reward to good journalism
● Respect freedom of press
● Training of media personals
● Electoral reforms
● Self regulation
● Creation of media ethics
● Attitude of public needs to be changed

WOMEN
Quotes
● Educate one man, you educate one person, but educate a woman you educate a whole Civilization
Mahatma Gandhi
● There is no tool of development more effective than the empowerment of women
● There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the conditions of women are improved. It is not
possible for the bird to fly on 1 wing - swami vivekananda
● Barometer of any nation’s progress is treatment given to its women
● Law determines the direction in which society should move however its a culture which determines the
direction in which society actually moves - Andre Beteille
● Inferiority of women is man-made paternal policies

Anecdotes
● https://epaper.thehindu.com/ccidist-ws/th/th_delhi/issues/18423/OPS/GO6AKQGLG.1+GOS
● In her 2019 Union budget speech, FM Nirmala sitharaman described Nari as Narayani &
reminded is what swami vivekananda said in the context of gender equality - it is not possible
for the bird to fly on 1 wing
● Who did we or do we see coming back in the evening from farm or work, prepare dinner, look after
children, make the bed & then retire only after everybody? Our mother earlier & our lives later.
From who did we learn our first alphabets, no., rhymes & mytho stories ? from our mothers
researchers give us evidences of good mother hypothesis
● At the times of marriage → padhai to theek hai pr roti bnani aati hai ya nahi
● Indira noori
● Thappad movies
● https://epaper.thehindu.com/Home/ShareArticle?OrgId=G44A8B61P.1&imageview=0&utm_source=epaper&utm_medium=sharearticle
● On Aug 15, while houses hoisted flags, Malti rushed at the crack of dawn to the public tap 500
metres away before residents swarmed the place. Water supply lasts only two hours, twice a day,
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

for a village shy of 10,000 residents. Even if Malti gets ahead in line, there is no guaranteed supply.
She makes 4-5 trips home, carrying 10-12 vessels of water in less than an hour. She repeats the
process in the evening to sufficiently provide for her low-income household comprising her
husband, two sons, and in-laws. Like Malti, 75% of women across India undertake such time-
consuming efforts every day to ensure their families have water (NFHS-5). But drudgery does not
end here. The remaining hours are spent securing fuel and caregiving — gendered responsibilities
that shackle them further to their homes. For these women, freedom is relief from domestic
drudgery, from doing repetitive tasks out of no choice owing to socio-cultural norms and limited
access to resources like water, fuel and household appliances.
● Virtues of a good wife- ‘Karyeshu Dasi, Karaneshu Manthri; Bhojeshu Mata, Shayaneshu
Rambha, Roopeshu lakshmi, Kshamayeshu Dharitri, Shat dharmayukta, Kuladharma Pathni’.
1) Karyeshu Dasi: works like a servant
2) Karaneshu Mantri : advises like a minister
3) Bhojeshu Mata: feeds like a mother

4) Shayaneshu Ramba : Pleases in bed like the heavenly beauty Rambha

5) Roopeshu Lakshmi : Beautiful like Goddess Lakshmi
6) Kshmayeshu Dharitri : Having patience like Earth

7) Shat dharma yuktah: woman who has this six virtues

8) Kula dharma Patni : good housewife (a married woman who is not employed outside the home)

Statistics
● Global gender gap report
Paradox
● Goddess of wealth is laxmi however women in indian society does not have financial autonomy
● Goddess of education is saraswati but in indian society women does not have access to education
● Goddess of food annapurna → women don't have access to food → anaemia
● Goddess of strength durga → women as weaker sex
● India has come a long way in 75 years, now with its second woman President and accomplished
women in every field. Yet, women are often paraded as brand ambassadors for household
appliances. Even their hard-won struggles against domestic work are usually because of other
women supplementing their efforts
Famous personalities from different walks of life
● Historical - Maitrey, lopamudra, gargi, apala, razia sultan, INM & Women
● Political - Indira Gandhi, Draupadi Murmu, pratibha patel, nirmala tayi
● Economic - falguni parekh, Indira noori
● Administrative -
Issues
● Socio cultural
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

○ Reproductive health
○ Education decisions
○ Marriage- marital rape- honour killing
○ Mobility
○ Lifestyle
○ Nutrition - 57% women are anaemic (NFHS-5)
○ Genital mutilation - bohra community
○ Gender stereotypes ⇒ draws legitimacy from Patriarchal society
○ Violence against women ⇒ most cruel form of patriarchy
■ Statics → NCRB report
■ Cause , Implication
● Religion
○ Sita
○ Devi-dasi dichotomy
○ Laxmi sitted near feet of vishnu
○ Kanyadan - commodity
○ Lakshman rekha concept
● Economic
○ Care economy
○ Pink collared job
○ Feminization of agriculture
○ Sexual harrassment
○ Glass ceiling
○ Dual roles - dual shift
● Political
○ Women rep in parliament
○ Leadership role
○ Panchayat 33% reservation but panchayat pati
○ Huge gaps in E, B, J
○ Only 1 women PM till date
● Environment
○ Women & CC
○ Eco feminism
○ Cyclone nargis in myanmar - 60% were women
○ Produce 80% of world’s food but receive 0.1% of quants
● Technology
○ STEM → Acc to UNESCO data, India having only 14% female researchers working in STEM
areas.
○ 14/100 Scientists are women
○ Last to be hired first to be sacked
● Sports
○ Viewed as a male bastion
○ Pay parity
○ Sexual harrassment
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

○ Post retirement sports

○ Representation of women in governing bodies
Consequences of women is not empowered
● At individual
● Women
● Child
● Family
● Nation
○ Political
○ Social
○ environmental
● Status of nation at global level
Solution
Women empowerment
● Acc to UN → sense of self worth
○ Access to different resources
○ Autonomy wrt DM
○ Control over their reproductive lives
○ Ability to influence the direction of social change
● Entrepreneurship→ Nykaa owner
● Social innovation
● Reservation of women in panchayat

SDG-5
Govt efforts
● Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI), i.e., a pilot project u/ Dept of Sci &
Tech to promote gender equity in S&T, and
● Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN), i.e., a plan u/
Dept of Sci & Tech to encourage women scientists in S&T and also preventing women scientists
from giving up research due to family reasons.
Lacunae
Way forward
● True gender parity is when institutions consider women as assets rather than it being just a
diversity rectification issue

Pyq
● Managing work and home – is the Indian working woman getting a fair deal ?-2012
● Women’s reservation bill would usher in empowerment for women in India. -2006
● The hand that rocks the cradle -2005
● If women ruled the world -2005
● Whither women’s emancipation? -2004
● Empowerment alone cannot help our women. -2001
● Women empowerment: challenges and prospects. -1999
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Woman is God's best creation. -1998

● Greater political power alone will not improve women’s plight. -1997
● The new emerging women power: the ground realities. -1995
● Men have failed: let women take over. -1993

Fulfilment of ‘new women’ in india is a myth

● Is the fulfilment of new women in India a myth??
● What is concept of new women
● What fulfilment of new women means
● Prospects of achieving ‘New Women’
● To what extent we have been able to achieve it
○ Eg → both for & against
● Wrt against : what we have been able to achieve it
● Way forward

Patriarchy is least noticed yet the most significant structure of social inequality

What is patriarchy
What are different forms of patriarchy
● Family
● Education
● Health
● Skill development
● Employment
● Decision making
○ At house
○ In politics
○ In judiciary
Why it is implicit / Least noticed
● Internalisation of patriarchy through socialisation
○ No gossips like women
○ Change of surname
● So deeply penetrated
What do u mean by social inequality
● Unequal access to opportunity & rewards due to social position in society
How Patriarchy is a structure of SI (Establishing relationship)
● Private
○ Family, Religion, Caste
○ Domestic division of labour
■ Unpaid work
■ Under Evaluation of care work
■ Ltd access to nutrition / health infra
■ Dual burden
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

○ Domestic abuse - NCRB

● Public
○ Glass ceiling
○ Pink collar job
○ Violence / harassment - NCRB
■ Work place
■ Public place
○ Wage gap
How to tackle/ challenges patriarchy
● Reservation
● PM UJJWALA
Why despite those efforts , it is still persisting
● Various structures which perpetuate patriarchy
○ Family
■ Through socialisation
■ Gender stereotypes
■ Patrilocal + patrilineal ⇒ low status of women
■ Paraya dhan
○ Media
■ Commodification & objectification of women by media
■ Advertisements promoted division of labour
● Dar ke aage jeet - men
● Washing machine - women
○ Education
■ Content of education
● Father - office
● Mother - home
○ Caste
■ Purity determine by controlling mobility & sexuality of women
○ Cinema
■ What society obscures, cinema depicts
■ 90s → major content → stalking → khambe jaisi khadi hai ladki hai ya chadi
hai
■ Ranjhana → paise na lena bhabhi hai tumhari
■ Abla girl → salman khan
■ Dangal → change
■ Thappad movies
○ Symbolism
■ Cinema
■ Image of women
● Self sacrifice
■ Everyone wants sita but no one wants draupadi ( stood for her rights)
■ Sita syndrome of apurva purohit → book → lady u r not a man
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

○ Religion
■ Veena das → devi dichotomy
■ Personal laws biased against women
What are the implications/ consequences of patriarchy
● At individual level
● Family
○ Education
○ Rationality
○ Health
○ Nutrition
○ Standard of living
● Nation
○ Demographic dividend ⇒ disaster
○ Amartya sen → women most imp agency of change
○ To emerge at global power
What needs to be done
● Be the change u want to see in the world
● Promote scientific temper
● Media
● Social awareness
● Gender sensitization
● Using cinema
● Agencies should bring change all
○ Family
○ Media
○ Education
○ Religion
● Infrastructural
○ Access to health education
○ Grassroot change
○ Judicial activism
● Implementational
○ Holds politicians responsible for their remarks
● Attitudinal
○ Nukkad natak
○ He for she campaign
● Short term
● Long term
● Social
● Political
● Eco
● Cultural
● adm
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

Health
Quotes
Statistics
● NFHS
● CANCET
Paradoxes
Current affairs
● Covid pandemic
International egs/ regional eg worth emanation
Concept of health
Its manifestation
● Social good
● Political good
● Economic good
● Ecological good
Heirs of healthcare system
● Primary
● Secondary
● Fertility
Issues of health system
● Weak PHC
● Low govt spending (1.6% of GDP)
● Pvt of HC
○ 70% of outpatient care
○ 60% of impatient
● Lack of rcg of pvt sector
● Clinical est act 2010
● High out of pocket expenditure → 58.7%
● Lack of insurance coverage → 14% rural areas, urban area 19%
● Regional / R-Urban divide
● Health workforce
● Medical qualification
● Lack of investment in R&D
● Twin burden of communicable + non communicable diseases
● Medical ethics
● Violence against medical personnel
● Reactive approach instead of proactive
● Rehab care
● Mental health
● Lifestyle problems
UHC
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Promotive
● Preventive
● Curative
● Rehab
SDG-3
Govt efforts
● PM-JAY
● NMC Act
● PMJAPY
Way forward
● Shift to preventive & promotive health care
● Emphasis on traditional medicinal system
● Introduce women as agency of change (Amartya sen)
● Consider health as FR
● Promote UHC
● PPP⇒ development of infra
● Govt exp increased 2.5%
● ⅔ rd of Govt expenditure ⇒ PHC
● Improve R&D
● Medical ethics
○ Unnecessary tests , branded medicines
● Data driven policy making
● Integrated approach
● Develop infra
● Reproductive health
● Mental health

Environment
Anecdotes
● When the God granted king Midas one wish, he wished that everything he touched would turn into
gold. Midas was delighted trees, rocks, buildings petty things all gold.
But soon he found horror that his food turned into gold as well. When he hugged his daughter to
soothe her pain, he realized his mistake too late.
The richest man in existence was STARVING HEARTBROKEN & ALONE
Humanity got a similar wish granted when we learned how to turn brown, stinky goo into magic-
PLASTIC. Cheap, sterile & convienient, it changed our lives. But this wonder of tech got a little out
of hand. Plastic has invaded & saturated our env to the extent that it even finds way into our bodies
today
● In the serene plateau of chotanagpur, there lies an isolated village named ‘Jadugauda’. A land
inhibited by santhals with close association with nature. However, not everything is beautiful
ablout this serea
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

Poem
● You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer
● You don’t know how to bring salmon backup a dead stream
● You don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct
● And you can’t bring back forests that once grew where there is now desert
● If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it
Education
Quotes
● Education is the most powerful weapon u can use to change the world - Nelson mandela
●
●
Anecdotes
● Virat kohli’s 8 month old daughter get rape threats form a software engineer guy
Historical evolution of edu system
● Gurukul system
● Nai talim
● Value based education
International eg
Importance of education
Issues of education system
Tiers of education
● Primary
○ Statistics
○ Issues
■ Out of school children
■ High dropout, low attendance
■ Basic facilities
■ Poor learning outcomes - ASAR
○ Govt efforts
● Secondary
● Higher
○ Issues
■ Regulatory
■ Pol interference
■ Employability
SDG-4
NEP
Way forward
● Value based education

Fortitude, Discrimination
Eklavya - Tribal boy donated his thumb to guru dronacharya
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

Motivation, Compassion, Dedication to public service

Deputy Commissioner Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary, an IAS officer, vacated his chair for an hour to allow several
students to listen to the grievances of residents and think of possible solutions.
The initiative is aimed at making these students aware and igniting in them the belief that they too could
occupy the chair in the future,” DC Haq said.

Wisdom,emotional intelligence ,humility:

When Abraham Lincoln entered the Senate to give his inaugural address as U.S. President,one aristocratic
Senator said,"Mr. Lincoln,you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family."The
Senate laughed.

Lincoln calmly replied,"Sir,I know that my father used to make shoes in your house for your family..Have
you any complaint?If you have any I can make another pair of shoes.Because i know how to make shoes
myself.But as far as i know,nobody has ever complained about my father's shoes.He was a genius,a
creator,and I am proud of my father."

Knowledge/ Education
shloka is from Hitopadesha
Knowledge makes one humble,
humility begets worthiness,
worthiness creates wealth & enrichment,
enrichment leads to right conduct,
right conduct brings contentment

"Learning gives creativity,

Creativity leads to thinking,
Thinking leads to knowledge,
Knowledge makes you great."
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

Bottom line: Learning is a life long process and also reconstruction of experiences.Creativity and
imagination are crucial ingredients in development of a well balanced personality.

An investment in knowledge, pays the best interest - benjamin franklin

Corruption

ममम मममम ममम ममम मम, मममम ममम मममममम

मममम ममम मममम मममम, मममम ममममम मममम- Rahim

With respect Shiva drank poison and became protector

Without being asked to, Rahu drank amrit (divine nectar) and had his head cut off.
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

Bottomline:Wealth gathered through unethical means,corruption doesn't make a person prestigious.A

person should earn by ethical means only then she/he can get respect.Respect is necessary for
meaningful existence.

APJ Abdul Kalam

Jab aafate aaye to unki wajah smjhne ki koshish karo, mushkile hamesha khud ko parakhne ka mauka
deti hain

3 things needed to succeed in life

● khwahish,
● yakeen
● ummed

Intensity in Aptitude & interest

Allow subordinate to interact participate

Sahaj pake so meetha hoye

Har din k liye taiyar raho, jab okhli ho bardasht karo , jab ....

Independence+ Responsibility = both needed

Increase knowledge, be up-to-date, last day ko check karo ,next plan

Kaam ko bharosa rakho, pyar karo

100 % kaam karne ki khwahish koi aur khwahish nahi chorti

3 death still have to focus on SLV launch

SSLV failed - complete breakdown

Failure- my responsibility, & I will correct it

Great things take time

Eg Moon dream - 40 yrs
Chandrashekhar limit - 50 yrs

Ek ek step apni direction me aage badhao

ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

4th stage - become successful finally

Kapde nahi kamyabi important hai

Give respect to everyone, even subordinate, they always have something to give you ( thought)

As a govt support people

Sirf paisa nahi izzat, aadar kamana hai zindgi me

Philosophical topic
Leadership
The character of an institution is reflected in its leader
● No option for refuting or challenging
Anecdote
● Satish dhawan eg of taking responsibility of failure
● Arjuna asked Krishna, 'Why Karna has a better liberality mindset than me?'
Krishna showed a mountain of gold and asked Arjuna to give to people in a single day. Arjuna, went
to the mountain and broke the mountain rock by rock to give to the people. It took him several days
to complete it.
Now, same task was allocated to Karna. He gave all the people the required tools to break the
mountain. He asked people to break the mountain and take what ever they wish. Everyone gathered
and hit the mountain. They took away what they want and in few hours the entire mountain is
vanished.
Krishna told Arjuna, 'You want everything to be done by you. That is why it took you several days.
You determined how much to be given. You didn't used team work and required tools to break the
mountain. Wanted credit for what you are doing. But Karna's aim was only to break the mountain
in a day and distribute it to the people. He used team work, required tools and never claimed credit
of giving it from his hands'.
Leaders never claim the team's credit, they stand in the front at the time of disaster, use right
team member at the right place, use right tools and bring team together to complete huge task in
short time
Institution
● An entity, which is organised & it fulfils some needs of society
○ Family
○ Education system
○ Media
○ Parliament
○ Election commission
○ Judiciary
○ Defence
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

○ ISRO
Character
● Sum total of the characteristics of an individual / entity
○ Moral qualities
○ Ethical standards
● Character of institution
○ Desirable
■ Responsive
■ Participative / Consultative
■ Has Democratic work culture
■ Accountable / Transparent
■ Honest
■ Tolerates any kinds of divergent viewpoints
■ Promotes culture of conflict resolution
■ Fluid communication
○ UnDesirable
■ Reactionary
■ Autocratic
■ Centralised
■ Top down
■ Suppress conflicts
■ Rigid
Formation of questions
● What do we mean by institution
● Different manifestation / Egs of an institution
● What do we mean by character of an institution
● Why leader is shaping the character of institution
○ He inspires us ⇒ tendency to replicate ideology of leader
○ Any successful leadership is one which is able to influence the people around u
○ Plays a significant role in perception building
○ They have the authority to command and we have the duty to obey
○ For a common man leader is synonymous with institution
● How leader shapes the character of institution
○ Leader provides
■ Vision → Long term / short term
■ Goals → material prosperity / social transformation
■ Determine strategies to achieve goals → legitimate / illegitimate
■ Channelize the energy of people in certain direction → constutive /
destructive ( mob lynching, riots )
■ Motivates → Rewards / punishment / participation
○ Thus shapes the value system of any institution
What kind of leadership is required
● Rational
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Accountable
● Good listener
● Pragmatic
● High EQ
● Courageous / visionary / practical
○ Sam Manekshaw during 1971 war refused indira for war
● Walks the talk
○ Mahatma gandhi
● Progressive leader → who want change
○ T N Seshan gave concept of 0 delay 0 deficiency
● Lenin vs stalin
● Apj abdul kalam vs AQ Khan
● Humble / simple living high thinking
○ Lal bahadur shastri
● Risk taking ability, inclusive leadership
○ Nehru even in too much pressure during independence
■ Panchsheel
○ Vallabhbhai patel
● Narsimha
● If dont get virtuous leadership → can lead to decline of greatest institutions
How to develop such leadership
● Right kind of value system
○ Through socialisation
■ Family → scientific temper
■ Education system → value based
■ Media → through vicarious re- enforcement
■ Religion → bhagwat geeta ( EI)
■ Leadership→ progressive , rational
● 7 sins as prescribed by mahatma gandhi
Conclusion
● Leadership is not permanent but institutions are, however the nature/ gravity of the leadership
would be determine that how even after the leader , their legacy is carried forward by their follower
○ Eg E Shreedharan
● Every institution is a legacy of great leader, however a failed leadership can bring down the
greatest of the institution
■ Eg Hitler
■ Duryodhana ‘
■ Ravana

Quick but steady wins the race

● Upsc preparation
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Haste → negative
○ React
○ Impulsive
○ Destructive
○ Rigid
● Quick → positive
○ Alert
○ Respond
○ Decisive / deliberative
○ Constructive
○ Multi- tasker
○ Visionary
○ Identify goals
● Steady
○ Sustainable
○ Patience
○ Discipline
○ Continuity
○ Defines means
○ Ethical dimension
○ Tolerant
● Race
○ Material prosperity
○ Social welfare
○ Both
○ Self fulfilment
● Arguments
○ Slow & suffer
■ Poverty alleviation
■ Population control
■ Industrialisation
■ Social infrastructure
■ Tribal welfare
■ Defence
■ LPG reforms
■ International relations
■ Women empowerment
■ Anachronistic laws (IPC, Sedition etc)
■ Environmental protection
○ Quick but steady
■ Introduction of land reforms
■ Idea of green revolution
■ Policies & programmes
■ Acts / commissions
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

■ Urbanisation
■ PESA
○ What slow & steady holds relevance
■ Reform wrt religions
■ Social reforms
■ UCC implementation
■ Any cultural issue
■ Tribal integration
○ Quick but steady which wins the race
■ Bullet trains
■ Rapid globalisation
■ Social media
■ 4th IR
■ AI

Life is a long journey from human being to being humane ⇒ IS life a long journey from human being to
being humane ??
What do u mean by human being
● Biological concept
How is is different from being humane
● Moral ethical concept
● Its virtue which is desirable trait
a. Compassion
b. Kind, warmhearted
c. Inclusive , honest
d. Integrity , courage
Different manifestation of being humane
Significance of BH for society
● For individual
a. Sense of joy
b. Peace of mind
c. Credibility in society
d. Social status / prestige
e. Cognitive dissonance
● For society
a. Ram rajya ( Virtuous state)
b. Help in eradication of social evils
c. Establishing harmony, cohesion in society
d. Community living
What if we fail to develop this virtue
● Mob lynching
● Corruption
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378

● Violence against vulnerable section

● Mental illness due to relative deprivation
● Communal violence
● Fundamentalism
How it is developed
Why it is referred as long journey
● Value system does not develop overnight
● VAME not shipped overnight
● Developed by the process of socialisation which is long term process
a. Family
b. School
c. Peer group
d. Media
e. Religious scriptures
f. Leaders
Challenges in developing this virtue
● Family
a. Bcz of negligent parenting
b. Disintegration of joint families
c. Dual career families
● School
a. Content driven by ideological colouration rather than scientific temper
b. Absence of value based education
● Peer group
a. Negative reference group
● Media
a. Commodification
b. Objectification
c. Post truth journalism
d. Unethical practices
e. Biased media
f. Rapid globalisation
● Religion
a. Selfstylied true beliefs of religion
b. Corrupted interpretation of religious teachings
What needs to be done
● Need of democratic parenting
● Value based education
● Education driven by scientific temper
● Filtering of content
● Cinema role
● Right kind of vicarious reinforcement
● Non corruptive interpretations
● Unadulterated religious interpretations
ASHA SHARMA AIR 378