AIR 42 · CSE 2017 · GS4 · 58 pages

Sudhir Kumar: GS4 answer copy

19 answers by Sudhir Kumar, as written in the test. Each question opens a page with how other toppers answered it.

The questions

Q1(a)Celebrities are paid huge amounts by companies for endorsing products that at times turn out to be harmful for the consumers. Examine the ethical dimensions involved in such instances.10 marks
Q1(b)Lack of cleanliness in urban areas despite schemes such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan point to difficulties faced in bringing about attitudinal and behavioural changes. Discuss.10 marks
Q2(a)Issues around economic inclusion are not just about income gaps, there are many dimensions of moral and ethical choices as well. Discuss.10 marks
Q2(b)Socially and economically marginalized women are used to make a profit, often at the cost of their own health and reproductive autonomy, in the name of commercial surrogacy. Discuss the ethical issues associated with commercial surrogacy in India. Should commercial surrogacy be completely banned?10 marks
Q3(a)While discussing the ethical issues that journalists face on a regular basis, examine the causes of increased sensationalism in news media in recent times.10 marks
Q3(b)What are the various sources through which humans can judge the correctness of their actions? In the context of public life discuss how these sources are important in offering a clear and practical guidance.10 marks
Q4(a)Should a person resort to leaking of information in case of wrongs done in the organization ? Does it cause a conflict of interest between the personal, organizational and societal spheres? Discuss with examples.10 marks
Q4(b)Competition, it is argued, spurs the best of performance, however, can it also instigate cheating and unethical behaviour? Discuss with adequate examples.10 marks
Q5(a)"A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury". Explain the statement giving one example each from personal and public life.10 marks
Q5(b)"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." What does this quotation mean to you? Explain with an example.10 marks
Q6Instances of atrocities against dalits despite stringent legal measures point to the fact that the problem is not one of legality only but a matter of entrenched social prejudices and attitude. In this context suggest some effective measures to address the issue holistically.10 marks
Q7What do you mean by 'anonymity in the civil services'? Explain why anonymity and neutrality are considered as important traits for civil servants.10 marks
Q8Prescription of dresscode for women not only violates their liberty but also reflects outdated views on gender relations as well as proper conduct. Comment.10 marks
Q9You are DM of a very poor district in the hinterland of India. It has come to your notice that manual scavenging is widely prevalent in the district even though the new law prohibits manual scavenging in any form. Upon enquiry, you have found that the number of manual scavengers has been reported to be very low, however, hundreds of dry latrines in the district depict a different picture. You have also noticed two more important trends: first, most of the manual scavengers are Dalits, and second, in many of the cases they themselves go to the houses and request the owners to clean their toilets manually, as it would provide monetary benefits. The entire district administration has been criticized by the media and there is political pressure on you to manipulate the data in a way that it shows less number of manual scavengers in the district. Based on the given information answer the following: 1. Identify the ethical issues associated with manual scavenging. 2. List the options available to you in the given case. Evaluate the merits and demerits of each. 3. Discuss some feasible steps that you can take to control this serious problem.20 marks
Q10You are SP of a district where the use of drugs is prevalent, especially among the youth. The neighbouring districts are also suffering from the same problem. There is a huge hue and cry in the national media about the drug issue and the government and political parties are pressurising the police and district administration to act on the issue. A big deal of drugs is busted by the police in your area and all the culprits have been arrested. However, even before you reach your office, a minister from the ruling party of the state calls and asks you to release few of the culprits. You have long suspected the role of many senior leaders in this drug menace of the state. You have also been informed by your juniors that a few officers who dared to act against people involved in drug dealings were transferred or suspended on wrong charges earlier. 1. Identify the options available to you. 2. Evaluate the pros and cons of each of your options.20 marks
Q11You are the manager of a small hotel which maintains high standards of ethics in dealing with its customers. One day a person comes to your hotel and enquires about booking a room at your hotel. However, due to peak season, all rooms were already booked and hence the staff politely informed him about the unavailability. The person, however, was adamant and took this as a personal insult and started misbehaving with the staff present at the counter. Citing his political connection he also threatened the staff of severe consequences. Next day the person lodged a frivolous complaint with the police under the stringent SC/ST act. In his complaint he accused you and your staff of insulting him deliberately on the basis of his caste. He insisted further that he was denied a room at your hotel due to the caste he belongs to. 1. What are the options available to you? 2. Evaluate each of these options and choose the option which you would adopt, giving reasons.20 marks
Q1220 marks
Q13As a Forest Officer, you are receiving increasing complaints of certain animals ruining the farms and causing damage to crops. This is creating an undue financial burden for the farmers who are in deep distress because of the uncontrolled damage. Consequently, the farmers are demanding you to put forward a request for culling of animals. You are an animal lover and against culling of animals. You had made efforts to control the menace but the population of animals has increased beyond the managing capacity. 1. What are the options available to you? Evaluate each of these options and choose the option which you would adopt, giving reasons. 2. Also suggest some long term measures to ensure that such a situation is not repeated.20 marks
Q14Dr. A.K. Singh, a professor of medicine, is a prominent cardiologist. His personal financial investments include significant stock holdings in three publicly traded biotechnology firms. He is approached by one of these firms to be a lead investigator in a therapeutic trial of a novel agent for preventing tissue damage from myocardial infarction (MI). This will be a randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial (neither patient nor physician will know whether the drug under investigation or a placebo is being used in a given patient). Dr. Singh is quite familiar with the preliminary animal and cell biology work in the area and believes that there is an excellent chance that this new drug will result in a significant improvement in survival and reduce damage to the heart muscle. He even thinks this novel agent may reduce the risk of heart failure and irregular beats. Dr. Singh's group is one of the few cardiology groups fully prepared to carry out this investigation, which is why he was contacted. He cares for a large number of patients with MI and believes that he could enroll numerous patients efficiently. The drug will only be available to his patients if his group participates in the trial. The company is offering Rs. 25 lakh for each patient enrolled. As a lead investigator, he will become much better known and will likely experience an increase in referrals if the trial succeeds. 1. Is Dr. Singh's participation in this study appropriate? Justify your position. 2. Does Dr. Singh have a conflict of interest? If so, what is the nature of the conflict? How could it be mitigated. 3. How would the nature of the conflict of interest be different had he not already owned stock, but instead had been offered stock as a form of compensation for conducting the study?20 marks

The answers

Question 1(a) · 10 marks · 228 words written

Celebrities are paid huge amounts by companies for endorsing products that at times turn out to be harmful for the consumers. Examine the ethical dimensions involved in such instances.

Opening

Celebrity product endorsements and issues arising out of it came under much scanner with ban of maggi.

The ethical issues involved are -

Body · points

i) Accountability : Celebrities build their palaces out of money of customers, so they must pay too for their health if product turns out faulty.

ii) Public health impact : Fans follow their stars in using product they endorse. Celebrity may not be using it himself/herself. It may lead to disaster like happened in case of housing apartments in 2000, which turned out to be fraud.

iii) Separation of personal and public duties Stars say that they dont have any responsibility and accountability must lie with producers and food regulator. True, but any information or advertisement in public domain should only come out after inquiry by celebrity.

Like celebrities endorsing wine bottles may lead to negative impact due to overconsumption. Advertisements must be driven by taking care of public welfare.

There is nothing called unaccountability in public domain. However, it must only be a civil penalty and not criminal.

iv) Honesty, probity: A star must not be swayed by attractive offer because they must remember that they are being offered that advertisement only because of their image made by public fans and they must honestly probe the matter.

Close · a way forward

Thus advertising standards council of India must issue general guidelines along with FSSAI in welfare of public.