Selected Contemporary Essays

Description

Selected Contemporary Essays is a comprehensive and lucid collection of essays meant for complete coverage of the all viable essay topics for the first Essay Paper of the UPSC Mains examination. Each socio-political and economic topic that is of current relevance with respect to the examination has been covered to serve as complete theoretical guidance. This book is aimed to provide broad perspectives on the issues and challenges regarding the present social issues in the country. Written by an IAS officer, Dr Saumitra Mohan, who is presently the collector and magistrate of Burdwan, it is imbued with first-hand knowledge of the major ongoing processes of social and economic change. The book is a melange of 134 essays on important topics as deemed important for the central and state civil services. These essays have been thematically put together in the shape of this book for the benefit of the larger readership who are engaged in the preparation of various competitive examinations. Accordingly, carefully selected essays on topics relating to various global, economic, strategic, security and socio-political issues have been included in the book. It also contains the previous years’ essay questions for thorough practice. Salient Features 1.134 detailed essays in one title 2.The essays come with their own glossary and salient points at the end 3.Important facts about India’s development indices in the beginning of the book which is extremely useful for GK and Current Affairs in UPSC 4.Carefully selected essays on topics relating to various global, economic, strategic, security and socio-political issues have been included in the book. 5.Completely updated with latest issues and developments on the Indian and international scene 6.Detailed analysis of the important current events, including GST, ISRO’s achievements and so forth 7.Thematically put together to benefit readership preparing for other competitive examinations 8.Written in an extremely lucid language which is easy to grasp 9.Previous years’ essay questions included in the book 10.Valuable tips on essay writing included at the end of the book A. How to Write an Essay 1. The Essay Writing and the Purpose Behind 3 B. National Panorama 2 Delineating the Contours of Indian Polity ** 11 3 Creating Newer States: How Desirable? 14 4 A Gorkhaland State: How Justified? 17 5 Facing the Negative Portents of Nation Building ** 23 6 Indian Democracy: Signs of a Maturing Nation ** 26 7 Politics and Politicking: Need for a Change 30 8 Tackling the Problem of Deinstitutionalisation in India ** 34 9 India’s Mass Movements 37 10 Understanding Popular Angst Against Politics 40 11 Revisiting The Centre–State Relations 43 12. Ensuring Food Security in India 47 C. Development Administration 13 Development Schemes: Need for a Remodelling 55 14 Distance Education: Way to Future 58 15 Does NREGA Encourage Corruption and Leakage? 61 16. Employment Guarantee, Not Employment Subsidy Approach Suits Indian Conditions 65 17 ional Rural Employment Guarantee Programme: A Review 70 20 Operationalising Right to Information 79 21 aping Demographic Dividends 82 22 forming Our Electoral System 85 23 Resolving Development Dilemmas 88 24 Right to Information: Some Reflections and Ruminations 91 25 Sanitising the Campus Politics 96 26 Strengthening the Right to Information 99 27 US Recession Might Not Affect Indian Growth 2 28. Why NREGA is Important? 106 D. Civil Society Issues 29 Do We Need Cultural Policing? 3 30 How Civil is Our Civil Society? 116 31 Insider vs Outsider 0 32 Media Trial in Trying Times 3 33 Policing an Anomic Society 6 34 Rise of the Common Man 129 35. The Great Expectations in a Growing Nation 133 E. Governance and Administration 36 Discussing the Police Reforms in India 139 37 ixed Tenure for Bureaucrats 2 38 Ensuring Free and Fair Poll: Examining Some Practical Problems 5 39 Face-lifting Our Police and Policing 148 40 Fragging: Unravelling the Skein 1 41 Globalisation: Role of District Administration ** 4 42 The Difficulty of Conducting Elections in India 158 43 Indian Democracy: Role of the Election Commission 1 44 Is bureaucracy the real culprit for all our woes? 4 45 Lateral Entry into Civil Service: A Timely Move 167 46 Oral Orders Are Anathema to Good Governance 1 47 Protecting the Steel Frame 5 48 olice and Policing 179 49 Reforming the Prison Administration in India 2 50 The Indian Civil Service Needs Servicing 6 51 Why Do We Need Police Reforms in India? 189 52. The Difficulty of Conducting Elections in India? 192 F. Diplomatic and Global Issues 53. Changing Contours of Indian Foreign Policy 197 54 Chasing the Holy Grail of Peace in South Asia ** 1 55 Climate Change: How Big is the Problem? 4 56 Globalisation: Facing the New Realities ** 207 57 Cooperative Globalism: Need of Our Times ** 1 58 How Can We Survive the Clash of Civilisations? ** 5 59 LBA: Transferring the Enclave Population 218 60 Indo-Bangladesh Relations: Forging Better Ties 1 61 thinking Indo-Bangla Relations 5 62 Reviewing the Enclave Exchange 229 63 Sino-Indian Relations: Moving Forward 3 64 Implications for International Security 236 65 Refugee Problem: Need for a Coordinated Response 1 66 The Self-Help System: Need for a New Global Architecture ** 5 67 Why Nuclear Disarmament Appears Difficult? 249 68 SAARC: Forging Regional Cooperation 2 69 US Relations: Retrospect and Prospect 256 70. Indo-Pak Relations: A Tale of Missed Opportunities 260 G. National Security 71 Anachronistic Naxalism— Need for Reinvention ** 267 72 lling the Naxal Cat 1 73 Better Custodial Care Needed for Death Row Prisoners 4 74 Dealing with Terrorism 277 75 Growing Naxalism: Need for a Unified Command 0 76 Indigenising Our Defence Procurement 3 77 Managing Threats to Our Security ** 286 78 tional Security Management through Diplomacy ** 0 79 Naxalism: The Enemy Within 4 80 Non-Desirability of a Nuclear Deterrence 298 81 Securing Our Jails: The Context of Naxal Threat 4 82 Tackling LWE Menace through a Holistic Approach 307 83. The Naxal Menace: Need for a National Policy 310 H. Abstract Topics 84 A Leader Should Always Lead From the Front 5 85 An Optimist Sees the Doughnut, a Pessimist Sees the Hole 318 86 Bend We Must but We Should Never Crawl 1 87 Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket 3 88 Failures Are the Pillars of Success 326 89 First Deserve, Then Desire 0 92 Is an Opportunity to Create a Meaning 339 93 Life’s Struggles Make Us Strong 2 94 New Religion for New Times: Some Reflections ** 5 95 No Better Time to Be Happy Than Now 349 96 Primacy of Spiritualism over Materialism ** 2 97 Self Help Is the Best Help 5 98 Stop Not Till Your Goal Is Achieved 358 99 Success Comes Through Confidence and Caution 1 0 Teleportation Could Soon Be a Reality 4 1 Time Is a Great Teacher 7 2 Understanding the Creation and Our Role ** 369 3 Live As If We Would Never Die and Die As If We Never Lived 2 4 Mind Our Language 5 5 We Should Not Get Rid of Bad Temper by Losing It 378 106. Tradition vs Modernity: Finding the Balance 381 I. Topical Essays 7 Burhan Wani’s Death and Its Implications for Kashmir 387 8 Changing Climate: Changing Ourselves 1 109 India’s First Battle of Rosogolla 4 0 Debating the Changes in India’s Child Labour Laws 398 1 Expectations from the Seventh Pay Commission 2 2 Global Slavery Index: Tackling Modern Slavery in India 5 3 GST: Ushering a Common n Market 409 4 ISRO’S Achievements and India’s Rising Soft Power 2 5 Living in Intolerant Times 6 6 Smart Vs Decent Cities: Some Reflections 419 117. The Beef Battle: Nation-Building in Danger 422 J. Social Issues 8 Tackling India’s Population Problem 427 119 Women’s Reservation: Need of the Hour 0 0 fashioning Our Literacy Programme 4 1 habilitating the Child Labour 438 2 Revitalising Our Municipal Management 2 3 Right to Education: How Effective? 446 4 FamilySome Reflections 0 5 The Great Indian Nation: Are We Racist? 4 6 Understanding the Sociology of Communalism ** 457 7 Crimes Against Women 1 0 Place of Women in Indian Society 2 1 Demystifying Racism in India 5 2 -based Reservation: Reflection of Systemic Maladies 478 3 Caste in Indian Political System 1 134. Decoding the Uniform Civil Code 484 K. Pearls of Wisdom: Selected Quotations 5 Some Pearls of Wisdom 489 136. Important Figures about Global Human Development 500 J. Important Facts 7 Some Important Facts You Should Know 505 138. Civil Services (Main) Previous Years’ Question Papers 513