List of 10 essays for competitive exams on 1. The political and economic implications of the Indo-Iran Gas Pipeline 2. The role played by the United States in promoting/hindering improved relations between India and Pakistan 3. Evaluate poverty eradication programmes in India 4. Is it possible to distinguish between judicial review and judicial activism in India? 5. Social and economic consequences of abolishing child labour in India 6. Discuss in detail “The Internet telephony as an alternative” 7. Short essay on cryogenic engine 8. Explain India’s strategic relationship with Russia 9. Essay on strategy of planning in India since 1951 10 Would you say that the implementation of the Panchayati System in the last ten years has led to a real restructuring of the Indian polity?

Competitive Exam Essay Topics

1. The political and economic implications of the Indo-Iran Gas Pipeline

The recent Indo-lran Gas Pipeline (proposed) agreement has already been showing its political and economic implication.

The most important is India’s move towards energy security which will be transformed into sustained economic growth. On the part of Iran, it will open its markets to a satisfying neighbourhood which will integrate its economy with India’s one of the fastest growing world economy.

As it passes through Pakistan, it will gain with charging transit and maintenance costs worth billions of dollars-good for Pakistan’s economy.

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Politically, it is proving one more confidence building measures (CBM) between India and Pakistan to diffuse political tensions in the sub-continent.

Recent nuclear standoff of Iran with western powers has also proved Iran coming closer to India to use its contacts to diffuse the crisis while western powers have also approached India to use its good offices to bring Iran to the talking table. It is also a direct implication of growing contacts between Iran & India due to the gas pipeline project.

2. The role played by the United States in promoting/hindering improved relations between India and Pakistan

As far as the role of United States of America in promoting or hindering the Indo-Pak relation is concerned, it can be reasonably concluded that it is playing the horse-rider’s role or what in Mahabharat called “Sarthi”, American pressures on both the sides especially on Kashmir issue one of paramount importance.

After resisting any American involvement in its conflict with Islamabad with decade India is now deliberately drawing Washington in Islamabad, believes that the fear of a “nuclear flashpoint” could be used to draw the American in to put pressure on India to negotiate on Kashmir has been shattered.

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The USA now insists that the LOC must remain inviolable not just from conventional Pakistani military aggression but also terrorist’s infiliteration. It has also made it clear that any Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir would only follow rather than precede an end to cross border terrorism.

India’s coercive diplomacy since December 13 has succeeded in mobilising the American power to force Pakistan into new commitment on giving up cross border terrorism.

For the final settlement of Kashmir issue and promises made by Musharraf, India must have conducive diplomatic dialogue with USA.

3. Evaluate poverty eradication programmes in India

Calorie consumption expenditure level is an important method to determine poverty line in India.

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Per capita daily calorific minimum has been defined as 2,400 calories villages and 2,100 calories in cities. If we consider this on the basis of sex, a very rough average for the required intake is 3,900 for working women. Though this method appears to be a foolproof method, there are some built in glitches?

Since this particular measures of poverty is based only on consumption of food, access to innumerable other essentials is ignored.

Adequate fuel, clothing, housing, drinking water, sanitation, health and education are just a few of the many essential goods and services that are not covered by this measure of poverty.

The simplest measure of poverty is the head count ratio (HCR) which is calculated by dividing the number of people below the poverty line by the total population.

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Simply speaking, this is the proportion of poor in the total population. Though easy to understand, the formulation of policy on the basis of HCR leads to trouble, as it makes no distinction between people just below the poverty line and those much below the poverty line.

Hence, the government can claim to have succeeded in eradicating poverty considerably by spending just enough on the least poor, and spending nothing on the most poor. However, despite this shortcoming, HCR is the official method to estimate poverty.

According to the latest survey by NSSO, the poverty in India is estimated at 26.10 percent for the country as a whole and 27.09 per cent in rural areas, 23.62 per cent in urban areas.

Poverty Eradication Programmes:

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Poverty eradication programmes have been strengthened over the years to generate additional employment, create productivity assets, impart technical and entrepreneurial skills and raise the income level of the poor.

For the year 2003-04, Ministry of Rural Development was allocated Rs 19,200 crores for rural development, provision of drinking water supply, rural employment and poverty eradication programmes etc.

Major poverty eradication and employment generation programmes are:

The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gamodaya Yojana, Antyodaya Anna Yojana, Indira Awaas Yojana, Swarna jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana, etc.

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The success of the poverty eradication programmes can be seen from the reduction of poverty from 54.9% in 1973-74 to 36% in 1993- 94. The poverty ratio declined by nearly 10 percentage point in the five years period between 1993-94 to reach 26% in 1999-2000.

While the proportion of poor in the rural areas declined from 56.4 per cent in 1973-74 to 27.1 per cent in 1999-2000, the decline in urban areas has been from 49 per cent to 23.6 per cent during this period. Direct poverty eradication programmes are important and will continue on an expanded scale in the ninth and tenth plan.

But these programmes would be oriented towards strengthening the productive potential of the economy and providing more opportunities for involving the poor in the economic process.

Certain schemes concerning income generation the rough supplementary employment and targeted PDS system to facilitate easy access to food grains could be successfully implemented to improve the lining condition of poor people.

4. Is it possible to distinguish between judicial review and judicial activism in India?

One of the essential features of our constitution is division of powers between different institutions, namely the three main wings of the State; the Parliament and the state legislatures, the Executive and the Judiciary.

The legislative powers of the Union and the States have been defined in the constitution, 7th schedule.

Moreover, our constitution has guaranteed certain fundamental rights in Part III of the constitution and has expressly provided that any law or executive action which abridges any fundamental rights is void.

Thus, fundamental rights constitute a limitation on the power of Parliament and State Legislatures and the Executive.

Therefore, under our constitution the judiciary is assigned the task of interpreting the constitution in order to determine what is the power conferred on each branch of government, what are its limit and whether the action of any branch transgresses such limits. It is for the judiciary to uphold constitutional values and to enforce constitutional limitations. It is known as Judicial Review.

Judicial Activism is the extent and the vigour and the readiness with which courts exercise their power of judicial review.

I. So, there is a marked difference between both of them. In the recent years courts have actively performed an interventionist role and that we have witnessed the phenomenon of judicial activism.

II. The liberalised doctrine of locus stand; led to the development of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which enabled the underprivileged and the downtrodden to secure access to courts through the agency of a public spirited person or an organisation.

III. Another factor which contributed to the judicial activism was the expansive judicial interpretation placed on the expression life in Art.

5. Social and economic consequences of abolishing child labour in India

Despite planning welfare programmes, legislation and administrative ac­tion in the past few decades, a large majority of children of the age group of 5-14 years continue to remain in distress and turmoil.

Child labour are exploited, exposed to hazardous work con­ditions and paid a pittance for their long hours of work. They are forced to leave schooling, shoul­dering responsibilities far beyond their years.

But no one steps forward to stop this. On June 17, 1999, the member states of the ILO unanimously voted to adopt convention 182 on the World Fo­rum on child labour. It was recognized that end­ing the commercial exploitation of children must be one of the mankind’s top priorities.

NGOs, Trade Unions and various social service organizations have launched innovative programmes to curb the problem of child labour.

The social and economic consequences can easily be understood if we understand the factors responsible for it. Child labour is a multi dimen­sional problem. The factors primarily responsible for it are poverty, caste tradition, size of the family, labour scarcity, illiteracy, ignorance, schooling fa­cilities etc.

Parents’ view that more children mean more earning which induces for an increase in child labour. The low income of parents which is not adequate to meet the basic needs of the family, force the children to work and supplement the fam­ily income.

Poverty is a common feature of devel­oping countries wherein a considerable propor­tion of population lives below poverty line. In the rural areas the people has to sell the labour of their children to take out a bare subsistence.

Besides poverty one major factor, which has a strong relationship with child labour is caste. If one compared the child with the caste structure of the country, it would be evident that a compara­tively higher proportion of Scheduled Caste chil­dren work at a younger age for their own and their families. Lower caste children tend to be pushed in to child labour because of their family’s poverty.

The combination of poverty and the lack of social security network is also responsible for bonded child labour. For the poor, there are few credit sources, and even if there are sources like co-operative loan, bank loan etc. available, only few poor families manage to satisfy the essential criteria related to access those. Here enters the local money lender with exorbitant high interest rates.

Most of the times it is not possible for the poor to return back those loans and the parents exchange their child’s labour to local money lend­ers. Since, the earning of bonded child labours are less than the interest on the loan, these bonded children are forced to work, while interest on their loans goes on accumulating.

Even if bonded child labourers are released, the same condition of pov­erty that caused the initial debt cause to slip back into bondage. Lastly, but not the least, the atti­tudes of parents also contribute to child labour, some parents feel that children should work in order to develop skills useful in the job market, Instead of taking advantage of formal education.

6. Discuss in detail “The Internet telephony as an alternative”

Department of telecom has issued guidelines on 21s1 March, 2002 for internet service providers to process and carry voice signals from April 1. As per the guidelines only ISPs licensees are permitted within their service area to offer such services.

Internet telephony has been defined as an application service which the customers of ISPs can avail from their personal computer capable of processing voice signals.

The scope of service includes -PC to PC, PC to phone and IP based H-323/SIP terminals both in India and abroad.

The addressing scheme for such communication involving transmission of voice in packetised data format through public internet will confirm to the IP addressing scheme of the internet assigned numbers (IANA) alone and not the national numbering scheme applicable to subscribers of basic/cellular telephone service as defined by DOT.

The internet telephone service offered by ISPs is different in nature, scope and kind from the scale time voice offered as telecommunication service by operator such as basic, cellular, NCD etc.

It is likely to improve the efficiency and make the communication easier and connectivity the highest.

7. Short essay on cryogenic engine

The cryogenic engine is crucial to development of GSLV (Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle). Cryogenics refer to technology of sub zero temperatures and cryogenic engines use liquid oxygen as the oxidiser and liquid hydrogen as the fuel. Use of the liquefied fuel instead of solid fuels helps the engine produce greater thrust.

The engine’s capability is thus of placing a far heavier payload. The technology is complicated use of special insulation and materials that can withstand temperatures of minus 200 degree or less (the boiling point of liquid hydrogen is minus 253 degree Celsius) is necessary.

On February 16, 2000 ISRO crossed an important milestone in the development of indigenous cryogenic upper stage for the GSLV when the first cryogenic engine was ignited at the LPSC (Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre), Mahendragiri.

The engine had employed liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The test of the first cryogenic engine had several accomplishments such as fabrication, assembly and integration of complete cryogenic engine.

The engine made by LPSC was expected to be used as the upper stage in the third launching of the GSLV. The upper stage of earlier launches of GSLV would be powered by engines and systems imported from Russia.

The advantage of the cryogenic engine was that it would develop one-and-a-half times the thrust of conventional liquid rocket engines using fuel storable at room temperature.

The GSLV is capable of injecting 2,500 kg class communication satellites into Geo-synchronous circular orbits at an altitude of 3,600 km. It is a high risk high technology and would help bridge the gap between the number of satellites being made by India and the vehicles needed for their launch. The gap is expected to be bridged in three to four years.

India pays $70 million to Arian space for launch of INSAT satellites. By gaining the capability to place multipurpose satellite in orbit, this amount can be saved. Besides, India can enter the multi-billion dollar market for launching communications satellite.

The realisation of the cryogenic technology would also help India to become a partner in space explorations and activities of other countries. On August 13, 2001 the central government has approved the ISRO’s project to send a payload to moon for which India has got capability and technology.

8. Explain India’s strategic relationship with Russia

The strategic partnership between India and Russia was signed during the visit of president Putin to India in October 2000. It lays down the broad contours of bilateral relations between India and Russian federation in the 21st century.

The military and technical cooperation are the core areas of strategic dialogue. An agreement was signed during the visit of president Putin to India in October 2000 which consists of the establishment of Inter-Governmental Commission for Military Technical Cooperation (IGCMTC).

In November 2001, the India Prime Minister visited Russia and the latter agreed to lease two projects related to nuclear powered multy-role submarine. The strategic cooperation was further boosted up with Putin’s visit in 2002 and Indian PM’s visit to Russia in 2003. There is also an unspoken determination between Russia-India-Beijing to counter USA’s unilateralism in central Asia.

India and Russia also took steps towards re­establishing multipolarity in international politics and ten agreement were signed during

Vajpayee’s visit which are related to science and technology, space, earthquake research as well as a number of bilateral banking accords and to review their defence relationship at the highest level.

The strategic partnership also supported the steps taken by India in jammu and Kashmir in combating international terrorism while India affirmed support for Russia in Chechnya to protect its territorial integrity and constitutional order.

9. Essay on strategy of planning in India since 1951

Since 1951, India has completed nine five year plans. Tenth plan is currently under execution. The guiding principles of India’s Five Year Plans are provided by the basic objectives of growth/ employment, self-reliance and social justice.

Apart from these basic objectives, each five year plan takes into account the new constraints and a possibility faced during the period and attempts to make the necessary directional changes and emphasis.

At the time of the First Five Year Plan (1951- 56) India was faced with three problems -influx of refugess, severe .food shortage, and mounting inflation. India had also to correct the disequilibrium in the economy caused by the Second World War and partition of the country.

Accordingly, the First Plan emphasised, as its immediate objectives the rehabilitation of refugees, rapid agricultural development so as to achieve food self-sufficiency in the shortest possible time and inflation control.

The Second Plan (1956-61) was conceived in an atmosphere of economic stability. Agricultural targets fixed in the First Plan had been achieved.

Poverty level had registered a fall, and consequently, it was felt that the Indian economy had reached a stage where agriculture could be assigned a lower priority and a forward thrust made in the development of heavy and basic industries of the economy for a more rapid advance in future.

The Third Plan (1961-66) gave top priority to agriculture but it also laid adequate emphasis on the development of basic industries, which were vitally necessary for rapid economic development of the country. However, because of India’s conflicts with China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965, the approach of the Third Plan was later shifted from development to defence and development.

The Fourth Plan (1969-74) aimed at an average 5.5percent growth rate in the national income and the provision of national minimum for the weaker sections of the community -the latter came to be known as the objectives of ‘growth with justice’ and “Garibi Hatao” (Poverty Removal).

The Fifth Plan (1974-79) strategies launching a direct attack on the problems of unemployment, under-employment and massive low-end poverty. But this approach was eventually abandoned and final draft of the Fifth Plan prepared and launched D.P. Dhar proposed to achieve the two main objectives, viz., removal of poverty and attainment of self reliance.

Through promotion of higheY growth rate, better distribution of income and a very significant step- up in the domestic saving rate. The new Sixth Plan (1980-85) was launched with its inherent approach, attack on the problem of poverty by creating conditions of an expanding economy.

The Seventh Plan (1985-90) sought to emphasise policies and programmes which would accelerate the growth in food grains production, increase employment opportunity and raise productivity – all these three immediate objectives were regarded central to the achievement of long term goals determined as far back as the First Plan itself.

The Eight Plan (1992- 97) was approved at a time the country was going through a severe economic crisis caused by a balance of payments, a rising debt burden, ever- widening budget deficits, amounting inflation and recession in industry. The Narasimha Rao Government initiated the process of fiscal reforms as also of economic reforms with a view to providing a new dynamism to the economic reforms.

The Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) was developed in the context of four important dimensions of state policy, viz. quality of life, and generation of productive employment, regional balance and self-reliance.

The Ninth Plan focused on accelerated growth, recognising a special role for agriculture for its stronger poverty reducing and employment generating effects, which will be carried out over a 15 year period.

And, finally the Tenth Plan (2002-07) provides an opportunity, at the start of the new millennium, to build upon the gains of the past and also to address the weaknesses that’ have emerged.

10 Would you say that the implementation of the Panchayati System in the last ten years has led to a real restructuring of the Indian polity?

After passing of these Acts, the rural and urban institutions of local self-govt. have received much needed constitutional recognition like state-level legislatures and the Union Parliament. It’s a constitutional recognition of grass-root level democratic set-up.

I. It (Act) has made mandatory to hold the elections of Panchayats in due time on regular basis.

II. It makes provisions for the reservations of seats at all three levels in favour of women, the SCs, the STs and the OBCs.

III. The Panchayats have been given the power and responsibility of local planning and mobilisation of their own resources.

Further, the Panchayats have been given power to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties, tolls and fees in accordance with the provisions made by the state government. This ensures their financial antonomy and viability.

Again, the Panchayats have been given power and responsibility, to prepare and implement the plans for economic development and social justice in relation to the matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.

The provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act are also to be implemented in the Union Territories with certain necessary modifications in terms of their peculiar conditions.

So, all these factors have brought a real restructuring of the Indian polity.