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Contents
Basics.............................................................................................................................................................. 3
Sources.................................................................................................................................................................3
Past Year Papers................................................................................................................................................. 3
What makes an essay good?..............................................................................................................................6
Quotes by Thinkers................................................................................................................................... 6
Amartya Sen........................................................................................................................................................ 6
Ambedkar............................................................................................................................................................ 6
APJ Kalam........................................................................................................................................................... 7
Aristotle............................................................................................................................................................... 7
Gandhi..................................................................................................................................................................7
Helen Keller...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Innovative/ Creative/ Catchy......................................................................................................................... 11
International Personalities............................................................................................................................. 11
Mother Teresa...................................................................................................................................................11
Nehru................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Plato....................................................................................................................................................................12
Random..............................................................................................................................................................12
Swami Vivekananda.........................................................................................................................................13
Vedic/ Sanskrit................................................................................................................................................. 13
Essay on India........................................................................................................................................... 14
Constitution.......................................................................................................................................................14
Fodder on India................................................................................................................................................ 14
Indian Values.................................................................................................................................................... 17
Patriotism.......................................................................................................................................................... 18
Culture............................................................................................................................................................... 18
Examples for Essay on India / Soft Power / Culture.................................................................................. 20
Atmanirbhar Bharat.........................................................................................................................................21
Essay on Caste / Backward Class.......................................................................................................22
Quotes on Caste................................................................................................................................................ 22
Data on Caste.................................................................................................................................................... 23
Examples on Caste........................................................................................................................................... 23
Backward Castes...............................................................................................................................................23
Backward Legal Provisions............................................................................................................................. 24
Essay on Children....................................................................................................................................24
Quotes on Children.......................................................................................................................................... 24
Child Labour..................................................................................................................................................... 25
Data for Children..............................................................................................................................................25
Examples for Children..................................................................................................................................... 26
Legal Provisions for Children......................................................................................................................... 26
Quotes on Communal Harmony/ Terrorism................................................................................................27
Examples for Terrorism.................................................................................................................................. 27
Essay on Corruption............................................................................................................................... 27
Quotes on Corruption...................................................................................................................................... 27
Essay on Democracy...............................................................................................................................28
Quotes on Democracy......................................................................................................................................28
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Examples on Democracy................................................................................................................................. 30
Essay on Disabled/ Differently Abled............................................................................................. 30
Essay on Discrimination / Inequality............................................................................................. 30
Essay on Economy................................................................................................................................... 31
Essay on Agriculture.............................................................................................................................. 33
Essay on Education................................................................................................................................. 35
Quotes on Education........................................................................................................................................35
Data on Education............................................................................................................................................37
Examples on Education...................................................................................................................................37
Fodder for Education.......................................................................................................................................38
Essay on Old age People........................................................................................................................39
Quotes for Old People......................................................................................................................................39
Facts for Old People......................................................................................................................................... 39
Legal Provisions for Old People..................................................................................................................... 40
Essay on Environment.......................................................................................................................... 40
Quotes on Environment.................................................................................................................................. 40
Fodder for Environment................................................................................................................................. 41
Essay on Media......................................................................................................................................... 43
Essay on Panchayati Raj....................................................................................................................... 43
Quotes on Panchayati Raj............................................................................................................................... 43
Data on Panchayati Raj................................................................................................................................... 43
Essay on Peace.......................................................................................................................................... 44
Essay on Poverty...................................................................................................................................... 44
Quotes on Poverty............................................................................................................................................ 44
Examples on Poverty....................................................................................................................................... 45
Essay on S&T............................................................................................................................................. 45
Quotes on S&T.................................................................................................................................................. 45
Fodder for S&T................................................................................................................................................. 46
Essay on Sanitation.................................................................................................................................47
Essay on Urbanization...........................................................................................................................47
Essay on Wisdom.....................................................................................................................................50
Essay on Women......................................................................................................................................50
Quotes on Women............................................................................................................................................50
Examples for Women...................................................................................................................................... 51
Data for Women............................................................................................................................................... 52
Fodder for Women........................................................................................................................................... 53
Legal Provision for Women............................................................................................................................ 53
Essay on Youth..........................................................................................................................................54
Quotes / Punchlines by PM / President / SC.................................................................................54
Fodder from Mann ki Baat..............................................................................................................................54
Supreme Court Quotes.................................................................................................................................... 56
PM Quotes......................................................................................................................................................... 56
President Quotes.............................................................................................................................................. 57
Random....................................................................................................................................................... 58
Acronyms...........................................................................................................................................................58
Are we humans?............................................................................................................................................... 58
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Catchy Phrases..................................................................................................................................................58
Net Neutrality and Freedom of speech......................................................................................................... 58
Rule of Law........................................................................................................................................................59
Some Random Thoughts................................................................................................................................. 59
Everything on move......................................................................................................................................... 60
Basics
Sources
Let's keep it short.
No need to read bulky books by Amartya Sen, Gurcharan Das and likes. Be smart and utilise time optimally.
If you want, you can read their summaries from internet.
Read PM/President/Vice President speeches. They have all the ingredients you need for a good essay viz.
facts, vision and catchy language.
Remember few quotes and use them from now on. Practice makes a man perfect. Don't procrastinate. Write
an essay and get it reviewed. We have seen people getting marks in 60s-70s who are careless.
Use buzzwords which are often in news like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Double Farmers Income, Per Crop More
Drop, Vocal for Local etc.
At least remember quotes/phrases related to India as you can use them in many topics like education,
governance, corruption, poverty, values etc. etc.
That's it. So, the perfect recipe for an above average score (130+) in essay is :
(1). Read PM/President Speeches
(2). Remember few quotes/phrases etc.
(3). Write few essays and get them reviewed
Past Year Papers
This will give you an idea about type of topics which are asked generally. Some topics like Women,
Education, India etc are often repeated with some angle. So, master them. Controversial topics like
Reservation are seldom asked.
Economy, Development
1. Crisis faced in India – moral or economic. -2015
2. Can capitalism bring inclusive growth? -2015
3. Was it the policy paralysis or the paralysis of implementation which slowed the growth of our
country? -2014
4. Tourism: Can this be the next big thing for India? -2014
5. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) along with GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) would be the right
indices for judging the wellbeing of a country-2013
6. Is the criticism that the ‘Public-Private-Partnership’ (PPP) model for development is more of a bane
than a boon in the Indian context, justified ?-2012
7. Should a moratorium be imposed on all fresh mining in tribal areas of the country? -2010
8. Are our traditional handicrafts doomed to a slow death? -2009
9. The focus of health care is increasingly getting skewed towards the ‘haves’ of our society. -2009
10. Special economic zone: boon or bane -2008
11. Protection of ecology and environment is essential for sustained economic development. -2006
12. BPO boom in India. -2007
13. Globalization would finish small-scale industries in India. -2006
_______________________________________________________________
14. Economic growth without distributive justice is bound to breed violence. -1993
15. Ecological considerations need not hamper development. -1993
16. Multinational corporations – saviours or saboteurs -1994
17. Resource management in the Indian context. -1999
18. Urbanization is a blessing in disguise. -1997
Education
1. Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil-2015
2. Is the growing level of competition good for the youth? -2014
3. Are the standardized tests good measure of academic ability or progress? -2014
4. Credit – based higher education system – status , opportunities and challenges -2011
5. Is an egalitarian society possible by educating the masses ? -2008
6. Independent thinking should be encouraged right form the childhood. -2007
7. “Education for all” campaign in India: myth or reality. -2006
8. What is real education? -2005
9. Modern technological education and human values. -2002
10. Privatization of higher education in India. -2002
11. Irrelevance of the classroom. -2001
12. Value-based science and education. -1999
13. Literacy is growing very fast, but there is no corresponding growth in education. -1996
14. Restructuring of Indian education system. -1995
Indian Democracy, society, culture, mindset

1. Dreams which should not let India sleep. -2015
2. Is sting operation an invasion on privacy? -2014
3. Fifty Golds in Olympics: Can this be a reality for India? -2014
4. Is the Colonial mentality hindering India’s Success? -2013
5. In the context of Gandhiji’s views on the matter, explore, on an evolutionary scale, the terms
‘Swadhinata’, ‘Swaraj’ and ‘Dharmarajya’. Critically comment on their contemporary relevance to
Indian democracy -2012
6. Does Indian cinema shape our popular culture or merely reflect it? -2011
7. Geography may remain the same ; history need not. -2010
8. From traditional Indian philanthropy to the gates-buffet model-a natural progression or a paradigm
shift? -2010
9. ‘ globalization’ vs. ‘ nationalism’ -2009
10. National identity and patriotism -2008
11. How has satellite television brought about cultural change in Indian mindsets? -2007
12. Globalizations and its impact on Indian culture. -2004
13. Responsibility of media in a democracy. -2002
14. Indian culture today: a myth or a reality? -2000
15. Modernism and our traditional socio-ethical values. -2000
16. Why should we be proud of being Indians? -2000
17. Youth culture today. -1999
18. Mass media and cultural invasion. -1999
19. The composite culture of India. -1998
20. The Indian society at the crossroads. -1994
21. Modernisation and westernisation are not identical concepts. -1994
22. New cults and godmen: a threat to traditional religion -1996
23. True religion cannot be misused. -1997
International issues
1. India’s role in promoting ASEAN co-operation. -2004
2. The masks of new imperialism. -2003
3. As civilization advances culture declines. -2003
4. The implications of globalization for India. -2000
5. My vision of an ideal world order. -2001
6. India’s contribution to world wisdom. -1998
7. The world of the twenty-first century. -1998
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8. Preparedness of our society for India’s global leadership role. -2010

9. The global order: political and economic -1993
10. Importance of Indo-US nuclear agreement -2006
11. Good fences make good neighbours -2009
12. Terrorism and world peace -2005
13. Restructuring of UNO reflect present realities -1996
Quote based, Philosophy, Ethics Based

1. Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole. -2015
2. Quick but steady wins the race. -2015
3. Character of an institution is reflected in its leader. -2015
4. With greater power comes greater responsibility. -2014
5. Words are sharper than the two-edged sword. -2014
6. Be the change you want to see in others (Gandhi)-2013
7. Discipline means success, anarchy means ruin -2008
8. Attitude makes, habit makes character and character makes a man. -2007
9. There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. -2003
10. If youth knew, if age could. -2002
11. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. -2002
12. The pursuit of excellence. -2001
13. Search for truth can only be a spiritual problem. -2002
14. Disinterested intellectual curiosity is the lifeblood of civilisation. -1995
15. Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds. -1995
16. Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret -1994
17. Useless life is an early death. -1994
18. He would reigns within himself and folds his passions and desires and fears is more than a king. -
1993
19. Compassion is the basic of all morality would -1993
20. Truth is lived, not taught -1996
Polity, administration, Media and Panchayati Raj Related topics

1. Creation of smaller states and the consequent administrative , economic and developmental
implication -2011
2. In the Indian context , both human intelligence and technical intelligence are crucial in combating
terrorism -2011
3. Evaluation of panchayati raj system in India from the point of view of eradication of power to
people. -2007
4. Justice must reach the poor -2005
5. Is autonomy the best answer to combat balkanization? -2007
6. The country’s need for a better disaster management system. -2000
7. Are we a ‘soft ’ state ? -2009
8. Role of media in good governance -2008
9. Judicial activism and Indian democracy. -2004
10. How should a civil servant conduct himself? -2003
11. What have we gained from our democratic set-up? -2001
12. Urbanisation and its hazards -2008
13. Food security for sustainable national development -2005
14. Water resources should be under the control of the central government. -2004
15. The misinterpretation and misuse of freedom in India. -1998
16. The language problem in India: its past, present and prospects. -1998
17. Reservation, politics and empowerment. -1999
18. When money speaks, the truth is silent. -1995
19. Politics without ethics is a disaster. -1995
20. Judicial activism. -1997
21. The vip cult is a bane of Indian democracy -1996
22. Need for transparency in public administration -1996
23. Whither Indian democracy? -1995
24. Politics, bureaucracy and business – fatal triangle. -1994
_______________________________________________________________
25. How far has democracy in India delivered the goods? -2003
26. What we have not learnt during fifty years of independence. -1997
27. My vision of India in 2001 a.d. -1993
Science-Technology Based Essay

1. Technology cannot replace manpower. -2015
2. Science and technology is the panacea for the growth and security of the nation-2013
3. Science and Mysticism : Are they compatible ?-2012
4. The march of science and the erosion of human values. -2001
5. Increasing computerization would lead to the creation of a dehumanized society. -2006
6. The lure of space. -2004
7. Spirituality and scientific temper. -2003
8. The cyberworld: its charms and challenges. -2000
9. The modern doctor and his patients. -1997
10. Computer: the harbinger of silent revolution. -1993
Women empowerment, Issue based Essay

1. Managing work and home – is the Indian working woman getting a fair deal ?-2012
2. Women’s reservation bill would usher in empowerment for women in India. -2006
3. The hand that rocks the cradle -2005
4. If women ruled the world -2005
5. Whither women’s emancipation? -2004
6. Empowerment alone cannot help our women. -2001
7. Women empowerment: challenges and prospects. -1999
8. Woman is god’s best creation. -1998
9. Greater political power alone will not improve women’s plight. -1997
10. The new emerging women power: the ground realities. -1995
11. Men have failed: let women take over. -1993
What makes an essay good?
There are lots of things but there are few basic things which should be followed at all cost:
(1). Simple language. Don't show off your vocabulary. Simpler the language, better it is. Examiner should be
able to understand the essay in one quick reading.
(2). A fine balance between facts/phrase/quotes/logic
(3). Proper flow in entire essay. Interlink ending of paragraph with next para.
(4). Good introduction and conclusion. Introduction creates first impression. It should generate interest in
examiners mind. It should also give a glimpse about your views and what is going to come in the body.
Conclusion should be positive and visionary.
Quotes by Thinkers
Amartya Sen
 Amartya Sen argues in his book An Idea of Justice, Goals must take precedence over means where
questions of human life are involved.
 Amartya Sen believed in empowerment of people. He favours giving them VOICE and CHOICE so
that they can demand their rights and choose their our destiny.
Ambedkar
 Prayer of the god lead to salvation in the temples but in politics it lead to the dictatorship.
_______________________________________________________________
 Rights are protected not by law but by the social and moral conscience of the society.
 If our Constitution fails, it is not because it is a bad Constitution; but because our functionaries have
failed it.
 India as a nation in real sense had to be created.
 It is easy to give power, it is difficult to give wisdom.
APJ Kalam
The three key societal members who can make a difference are father, mother and teacher.
Aristotle
I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is
over self.
Gandhi
 Nature has enough for Man’s Need but not for Man’s Greed
This quote can be written in following contexts:
o Environment related context
o Essay related to education (our education should teach these values)
o Philosophical essays related to human nature
 Gandhi Ji famously said, "There

is a higher court than courts of
justice and that is the court IAS4Sure Notes
of conscience. It supersedes all
other courts."  Topicwise Arranged notes
This quote can be written in
following contexts:  Shared via Onenote / Evernote
o Essays on Ethics and Human
Values  Daily updated
o Essays on education (our
education should teach these  Loaded with Facts / Examples
values)
o Essay on topics like corruption, Read more at www.ias4sure.com
immorality and other vices of
human beings
 Noble Goals can be achieved

only through Noble Means.
This quote can be written in following contexts:
o Essays on diplomacy and international relations
o Essays on human values like honesty, integrity etc. and while writing about various moral
dilemmas
 Machinery has its place; it has come to stay. But it must not be allowed to displace
necessary human labour.
This quote can be used in following contexts:
_______________________________________________________________
o While writing on mechanisation, capitalism etc.

o While writing on topics like "Science : Boon or Bane"
o While comparing "Modern Age/Humans" within historical contexts.
 His Ideas:
 Trusteeship
 Sharing
 Collaboration rather than conflict between classes
 Country can never be developed without the contribution of other half. (Women)
 Journalist Horace Alexander narrated an incident that occurred in that surcharged season (During
partition). One day when Gandhi was praying in a village, a Muslim caught him by the throat.
Gandhi almost collapsed. But even as he fell down, he recited some lines from the Quran. On
hearing them, the Muslim said, “I am sorry. I am prepared to protect you. Give me any work. Tell me
what should I do?” Gandhi replied, “Do only one thing. When you go back home, do not tell anyone
what you tried to do to me. Otherwise there will be Hindu-Muslim riots. Forget me and forgive
yourself.”
Can be used as an example of how leaders should be.
 Women is not helpless. She must never regard herself as weaker than man.
 Educate one man, you educate one person, but educate a woman and you educate a whole
civilisation.
 Women alone can emancipate themselves, not men.
 The breach of one rule inevitably leads to the breach of other rules. (Responsibility)
 Violence is the weapon of the weak; non-violence, that of the strong. (Violence)
 The only difference between man and man all the world over is one of degree, and not of kind.
(Equality)
 A man will see and hear only that which he wishes to see and hear.
 Everyone grows old with the passage of time, desire alone remains ever youthful.
 To a starving person, God will appear in the form of bread alone. (Poverty)
 He who knows no rules and follows none just cannot be a servant of the people.
 The greatness of a person lies in his heart, not in his head, that is, intellect.
 He who thinks only of the suffering humanity, will not think of himself.
 An ideal is one thing; living up to it is quite another.
 Blind is not he who has lost his eyes, but he who hides his shortcomings.
 To conceal ignorance is to increase it.
 Only the brave can be forgiving.
 More people die of fear of death than by actual death.
 More people die of the fear of disease than of disease himself.
_______________________________________________________________
 Better to die once than to die daily.
 Just as the universe is contained in the self, so is India contained in the villages.
 He who is afraid of people's censure will never be able to do anything worthwhile.
 It is easier to cross the ocean between countries than to span the gulf between individuals or peoples.
 Education that does not mould the character is absolutely worthless.
 Gandhiji enumerated Seven Social Sins, which are -

1. Politics without Principles.
2. Wealth without Work.
3. Pleasure without Conscience.
4. Knowledge without Character.
5. Commerce without Morality.
6. Science without Humanity.
7. Worship without Sacrifice.
 To serve is my religion.
 If you take care of today, God will take care of tomorrow.
 A man is but the product of his thoughts.
 Scriptures cannot transcend reason and truth.
 Opposition makes the man.
 Life is an endless series of experiments.
 Life spent in service is the only fruitful life.
 He who want to please all, will please none.
 Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
 It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to
cover impotence.
 An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
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 Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary
 Hate the sin, love the sinner.
 The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong
 You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the
ocean does not become dirty.
 You must be the change you want to see in the world.
 Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
 Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
 The future depends on what we do in the present.
 India of my Dreams: I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their
country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India in which there shall be no high class
and low class of people, an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There shall
be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability. Women will enjoy same rights as men.
We shall be at peace with the rest of the world.
This is India of my dreams.
 You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison
my mind.
 The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our fore fathers but on loan
from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.
(Environment)
 Nature has enough for Man’s Need but not for Man’s Greed. (Environment)
 Access to justice for the poorest of the poor would ensure ‘Justice for all’. It is worth
recollecting here what Mahatma Gandhi had once said and I quote: “My notion of democracy is that
under it the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest”
 Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will
 A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to
avoid trouble.
Helen Keller
 Keep your faces to the sunshine and you will not see the shadows
Can be used in context when you want to convey that optimism and positive attitude can achieve
great results despite hurdles.
 No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed to an unchartered land
or opened a new doorway for the human spirit
Can be used in context when you want to convey that optimism and positive attitude can achieve
great results despite hurdles.
 We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough

Can be used to chow importance of persistent effort and hard work.
_______________________________________________________________
Innovative/ Creative/ Catchy
 "Food for every mouth,

Work for every hand,
Spark in every eye and
Joy in every soul"
This can be used in following contexts:
o You can conclude you essay with this on a positive note by saying that this is your vision for
future or your vision for India.
o You can also use it in essay on education / human values / public service etc. by creating a
context that motive of our education / public servant etc. should be to achieve this.
International Personalities
 "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" - John F.
Kennedy
 "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" - Confucius
 “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property” – Thomas
Jefferson.
 "Men is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains" Jean Jacques Rousseau
 "If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in term of 100
years, teach the people" (importance of human capital) - Confucius
 The illiterate of the twenty first century will not be those who do not read or write but those who do
not learn, re-learn and un-learn. –Alvin Toffler
 " There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children" -
Mandela
 “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world” - Nelson Mandela.
Mother Teresa
 Peace begins with a smile
 If you can not feed a hundred people than feed just one
 Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person
 If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.
 If you judge people, you have no time to love them
Nehru
 In 1962, a cartoon of Nehru by R.K. Laxman was published. Far from taking offence,
Nehru rang up Laxman and said, “I so enjoyed your cartoon this morning. Can I have
a signed enlarged copy to frame?”.
Can be used to show value of tolerance of true leaders which is missing in today's political setup.
_______________________________________________________________
 Everything else can wait but agriculture can not
Plato
 Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way
around the laws.
 The mark of an educated person is the willingness to use one‘s knowledge and skills to solve the
problems of society
Random
 Main reason for the evil in world is not the action of evil doer but the silence of good people.
 Whoever controls media actually controls mind and politics.
 SAR ZAMIN-E-HIND PAR AQWAM-E-ALAM KE FIRAQUE

CARVAN BASTE GAYE, HINDOSTAN BANTA GAYA
(The caravans of people from all parts of the world kept on coming and settling in India and led to
the formation of India.)
 People with clenched fists cannot shake hands - Indira Gandhi
 People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when sun is out but when the
darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
 There are two ways of spreading a light. To be the candle or the mirror that reflects it - Edith
Wharton

 Courage is like a muscle, we strengthen it with use.
 You may be disheartened if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
 Pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to still larger cause of humanity.
 Freedom and power brings responsibility.
 The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer.
It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity.
_______________________________________________________________
 Aims should be to wipe every team from every eye.
 One should work hard to give reality to our dreams.
 The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams and work for it.
 Let's arise, awake and stop not

Till thy goal is reached
 Freedom is a celebration, independence is a challenge.
 We need to move from alleviation (It is a process) of poverty to elimination of poverty (It is a time
bound objective)
 A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. - George
Bernard Shaw
 A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the
trip. - Caskie Stinnett
 Stay Hungry; Stay Foolish. - Steve Jobs
 Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and you lose a great business
opportunity. - Karl Marx
 Black or white, a cat that catches mice is a good cat - Deng Xiaoping
 Seek truth from facts - Deng Xiaoping
 We need to create pedestrian crossings on the highway of globalisation. - K R Naraynan. Ex. We
need to create safety nets like MGNREGA, MSP etc.
 Gandhi - simple living, environment saver.
 Kalam - Teacher, Conviction, Commitment
Swami Vivekananda
 If you get 1rs without working, it means someone has worked and not got his 1rs.
 Values that he emphasised - Tolerance and Universal Acceptance

Swami ji can be used in essays related to terrorism, IR etc
 He began his famous speech with "Sisters and Brothers of America" (Tolerance). This kind of
attitude is missing in today's leaders/philosophers. Can be used in essay related to IR, Indian values,
Terror etc.
 "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".
Vedic/ Sanskrit
 Krinvanto Vishwam Aryam

(Lets us make this world a noble place to live in)
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 असतो माँ स मय (Asato ma Sadgamaya)

तमसो माँ ोितगमय (Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya)
मृ ोमा अमृतंगमय (Mratyorma Amritgamaya)
Means -
From unrighteousness to righteousness
From darkness to light
From mortality towards immortality
 Sarva Dharma Sambhava
 Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
 Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu

(Let the whole world be prosperous and peaceful)
 Yatra Vishwam Bhawatveka Needam

(The whole world is a bird's cage with all it diversity)
 Yatra Naryastu Poojyante, Ramante Tatra Devatah

(Wherever ladies are worshipped, there dances goddesses)
 Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina (May all be Happy)

Sarve Santu Niramaya (May all be without disease)
Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu (May all have well-being)
Maa Kaschit Dukh Bhagh Bhavet (May none have misery of any sort)
 Sangachchhdhvam Samvadahvam Samvo Manansi Jaanataam

We walk together, we move together, we think together, we resolve together and together we take
this county forward.
Essay on India
Constitution
 "Constitution like a machine is lifeless thing. It acquires life because of men who control it and
operate it . If people who are elected are capable and men of strong character and integrity then they
can make the best even of a defective Constitution. And if not, then even the perfect Constitution
can't help the country ! " - Dr. Rajendra Prasad
 Our constitution is a consequence of our democratic culture which reflects our ancient values
Fodder on India
 India should not only be strong from within but also respected world over
Can be used in essays related to:
o International Relations
o Educations (That education should be such which instil this values in children)
o Ideal India/ India of dreams etc.
 Socio-Economic well-being of the poorest citizen of India, as exemplified by the idea

of Mahatma Gandhi Talisman
It can be stated as the goal of all Indians. Can be used in essays related to administration, education,
corruption etc.
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 India, is the land of the Buddha, Mahavira and Mahatama Gandhi, the greatest
proponents of ahimsa.
It show that value of tolerance, peaceful coexistence etc. are inbuilt in India's way of thinking which
is needed in today's world
 As an ancient civilisation, India has been world-renowned for its profound philosophy and splendid
culture, which made great contributions to human development. As an emerging country, India’s
widely acclaimed economic growth and social vitality have secured this country an influential
position in the world. Past and present glories have come together to lend strength to India’s
ambitious march towards national prosperity. On the other side of the Himalayas, the Chinese
nation has also written its own chapter in the history of human civilisation and created thriving
miracles. Throughout history, the Chinese and Indian civilisations have maintained exchanges and
learned from each other. With the East’s unique wisdom and charm, the two nations have jointly
erected powerful pillars for the civilisation of the East, and contributed their share to world peace
and development.
 Human capacity has been a key determinant in the rise of nations. Even today, the race among
nations is not necessarily won by those with immense resources, but by those who have the capacity
to make the most effective use of those resources for building the nation. That capacity is directly
related to the ability to make effective public policies and to implement these policies effectively. A
good public policy with poor implementation is of no value and significance to society and nation
 When the architects of our nation wrote the magnificent words of the constitution, they were signing
a promissory note to which every Indian was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men
would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life and dignity. It is obvious that India has defaulted
on this promissory note.
Now is the time to make real promises of democracy. Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quicksand of racial injustice to solid rock of brotherhood.
 We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell
 We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance and we have to live up to that high
standard.
 Vision of India
Food for every mouth
Work for every hand
Spark in every eye and
Joy in every soul
Can be used to conclude the essay.
 India is an ancient civilisation, yet a modern state with modern dreams.
 A nation is very young at 68. India has the will, energy, intellect, values and unity to claim the 21st
century. The vision to win the battle of freedom from poverty is set; The journey will seem
formidable only to those without conviction. As an old saying goes " SIDDHIR BHAVATI
KARMAJA", which means, "SUCCESS IS BORN OUT OF ACTION".
Now is the time for action.
 Indian unity is not something imposed from outside but rather it is something deeper and within its
fold, the wildest tolerance of belief and custom was practised and every variety is acknowledged and
even encouraged. (Nehru in Discovery of India)
 Gandhi’s reply when asked, in 1946, to describe the independent India he wished to see. Drawing a
geometric picture, Gandhi said he wanted “not a pyramid but an oceanic circle” of complete equality.
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In such a circle, “the last would be first, in fact there would be no first and no last”, and the
individual citizen, not a president or prime minister, would occupy the circle’s centre (Harijan, July
28, 1946).
 India of Mahatma Gandhi's Dreams: I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel
that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India in which there shall be
no high class and low class of people, an India in which all communities shall live in perfect
harmony. There shall be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability. Women will enjoy
same rights as men. We shall be at peace with the rest of the world.
This is India of my dreams.
 SAR ZAMIN-E-HIND PAR AQWAM-E-ALAM KE FIRAQUE

CARVAN BASTE GAYE, HINDOSTAN BANTA GAYA
(The caravans of people from all parts of the world kept on coming and settling in India and led to the
formation of India.)
 Our country has thrived due to its power of assimilation and tolerance. Multiplicity is our collective
strength, which must be preserved at all costs - Pranab Mukherjee
 "India is an old country,

But a young nation.
We are impatient, I am impatient.
And I too have a dream of an India -
Strong, Independent and Self-reliant"
- Rajiv Gandhi
 Guided by the principle of Antyodaya, our government is dedicated to the poor, marginalised and
those left behind.
 Artificial distinction between Bharat and India : Sectoral, sectional, regional disparities and
inequalities.
 India occupies about 2.4% landmass and accounts for almost 17% of people with about 27% BPL :
Magnitude of challenges faced by India.
 We have to make India's development journey a "jan andolan" as Gandhiji did to freedom struggle;
everyone must feel he or she is working or India's progress
 "Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat"
 "If there is heaven on earth, it is in India" - Max Muller
 Team India - A team of 125 crore Indians
 Indian Talent + Information Technology = India Tomorrow
 India is a land of most ancient order of monks in the world.
 India has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all regions and all nations of the earth.
 As Pandit Nehru envisioned, India has a tryst with her destiny which we must fulfil for her. After all
what is India but we, ourselves?
_______________________________________________________________
 We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India,
resulting out of economic prosperity coupled with civilisational heritage. - A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
 My Swaraj is to keep intact the genius of our civilisation.
 Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only
strength respects strength. -Dr APJ Abdul Kalam
 Sankalp se Siddhi
The 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement was observed across the country. This year’s
theme was “Sankalp se Siddhi- the attainment through resolve."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent Mann Ki Baat programme had called for launching the
mega campaign Sankalp Se Siddhi. The campaign pledges to build new India by 2022. It calls on
everyone to pledge together towards Clean India, Poverty–free India, Corruption-free India,
Terrorism-free India, Communalism-free India, Casteism-free India.
 History:
 Equality in early Vedic times
 Birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism
 Ashoka’s dhamma: socio-moral virtues of honesty, truthfulness, compassion, mercifulness,
benevolence, non-violence, considerate behaviour towards all, ‘little sin and many good deeds,’
non-extravagance, non-acquisitiveness, and non-injury to animals.
 Gandhian philosophy: peace, non-violence, self-governance, self-realisation
 Nehruvian philosophy: scientific socialism, secularism
Not only in history, even geographically India has upheld the linguistic and cultural pluralities
striving towards a diverse yet united India in the future.
Indian Values
What are some of the unique things about India?

 India has a tradition that considers entire world as one and the earth as our mother.
 India's core civilizational values of diversity, tolerance and plurality have kept it united for centuries
and that cannot be wasted
 Indian civilisation had survived for 5,000 years chiefly because of its tolerance and by accepting
dissent and difference.
 A large number of languages, 1,600 dialects and seven religions coexist in India.
 We have a Constitution that accommodates all these values.
Example of how Indian society is different from West?

Why some advertisements in India display two cups on the package whereas in America they show one cup?
The answer is that for many Indians drinking coffee is not an individual wake up activity, but an occasion to
socialise with others.
Why Indians should strive for the best in all spheres of life and why they should have high
values?
An Indian being born in oldest civilisation of world, more is expected of him. He is the torchbearer of the
values enshrined in Vedas. Values like tolerance, brotherhood, respect for others/humans etc.
Strength of the idea of India:

We must, as proud Indians, have confidence in the idea of India and the values and principles enshrined in
our Constitution. India has always been able to self-correct whenever such a need has arisen
(This statement can be used in all negative scenarios like Terrorism, Communalism, Poverty etc.)
Seva Parmo Dharma
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Service, in our Indian ethos, is the ultimate duty
Satyamev Jayate
Ahimsa Parmo Dharma
Indians worship trees. See them as gods.
Sulh-e-Kul
History is full of Empires of Sword, but India alone created an Empire of the Spirit. - Michael Wood
Patriotism
A saint travelling to Japan asked a child "What do you live for?" The child replied with
confidence "I live for Japan".
This is the kind of patriotism that we need in all Indian if we truly want to become a superpower.
Culture
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. - Mahatma Gandhi
Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit. - Jawaharlal Nehru
The culture of India is the living expression of the simplicity and profundity of her people.
Culture defines people’s values, beliefs, and personal interests. Culture is important because it allows
people to maintain a unique identity. But there are certain questions that needs an elaborate discussion:
Should humans take pride in their respective cultures? Should we all have pride in each and every aspect of
our past and present culture? How assertive must we be about cultural pride?
Culture and History

 History is the revelation of the culture of past.
 Civilization is a society in an advanced state of social development --- the sum of cultures and the
socio-political aspects.
 Culture characterizes a historic time period while at the same time history also reveals what was the
culture during a time period.
Culture and Geography

 Rivers play as cradle of the civilization, with distinct culture.
 Terrain decides the type of culture flourishing, and thus the civilization making
 Geographic factors act as unifying agents of culture
 System of Monsoon as a unifying factor
Indian Culture:
 Melting pot of religions
 Continuity and change
 The Variety and Unity - And the Unity in Diversity
 The composite nature of our culture is reflected in our music, dance forms, drama and art forms like
paintings, sculpture and architecture as well
 Secular Outlook
 Universalism
 Materialistic and Spiritualistic
 The economic system
 Philosophies
 The Etiquettes
_______________________________________________________________
 The family structure

 The Science
 The Equality: Socio- ethical values
 The education system, teacher, parents
Changes in Indian culture:

 The influence of invasions over Indian culture.
 The effect of Education on Indian Culture.
 As Civilization advances: The changes that occur in culture
 Western Culture’s influence
 Modernism and our traditional socio-ethical values
 Impact of new economy, Globalization
 Advancement of Science and its effect on culture.
 The information age
 Youth Culture
Importance of Culture:
 Culture is the lifeblood of a vibrant society.
 Individual Benefits : Delight, wonder, pride , creativity
 Social benefits: Unifying force, Pride, Education and well being
 Economic benefits: Tourism, remote products
 One should not be proud of each and every aspect of culture
 Only the positives of a culture should be taken up
 Pride in one’s own culture does not make other cultures inferior
 Culture as a role player in International Affairs
 Communicating India’s soft power: Buddha to Bollywood
 Ethical teachings of the culture
Culture as an answer to the problems of contemporary times:

 For maintaining the world order, maintaining peace and harmony, India’s culture can be an answer.
 To other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim. By Martin Luther king Jr.
 For the social problems, environment problems and even the psychological problems, our culture
gives various solutions.
 “ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – The world is one family
Devi Annapurna Idol:

 This idol was stolen from a temple of Varanasi and smuggled out of the country around 100 years
ago somewhere around 1913.
 With government's effort it is being returned from Canada.
How Spiritualism and Traditions unite us?

Holiness Adi Shankaracharya was born in Kerala and established four important mathas in all four
directions of India… Badrikashram in the North, Puri in the East, Sringeri in the South and Dwarka in the
West. He also traveled to Srinagar and that is the reason, a ‘Shankracharya Hill’ exists there.
Pilgrimage in itself knits India in a common thread; the chain of Jyotirlingas and Shaktipeethas binds India
with the common thread. Our centres of faith established from Tripura to Gujarat and from Jammu and
Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, unite us as one. The Bhakti movement became a mass movement throughout India,
uniting us through Bhakti, devotion.These elements with the strength of unity have been assimilated in our
day to day lives. The various rivers in our country are invoked before each ritual, ranging from the Indus
located in the far north to the Kaveri, the lifeline of South India. Often people in our country say or chant
while bathing with a hallowed belief, the mantra of unity:
GangeCheYamuneChaive Godavari Saraswati.

Narmade Sindhu Kaveri Jale asminn Sannidhim Kuru
Similarly, the holy sites of Sikhs include ‘Nanded Sahib’ and ‘Patna Sahib’ Gurdwaras. Our Sikh Gurus too
have enriched the spirit of unity through their lives and noble deeds.
_______________________________________________________________
In the last century, in our country, we have had luminaries such as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar who forged
unity among us all through the medium of the Constitution.
Examples for Essay on India / Soft Power / Culture
 Cherry Blossoms:
Japan is famous for it's Cherry Blossoms world wide but people need to know Cherry Blossoms of
Shillong of our Meghalaya.
 Jonas Masetti aka Vishwanath

India’s culture and Shaastras, knowledge has always been a centre of attraction for the entire world.
Many people came to India to discover & study them & stayed back for ever, whereas some of them
returned to their respective countries as carriers of this culture. I got an opportunity to know about
the work of Jonas Masetti, also known as Vishwanath. Jonas teaches Vedanta & Geeta to people in
Brazil. He runs an institution named Vishwavidya, situated in the hills of Petropolis, an hour’s
distance from Rio De Janeiro. Jonas, after studying Mechanical Engineering worked in his stock
market company. Later he was drawn towards Indian culture, especially Vedanta. From stocks to
spirituality, it has truly been a long journey for him. Jonas studied Vedanta Philosophy in India,
staying at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Coimbatore for four years. Jonas has another specialty- he is
using technology to propagate his message. He regularly conducts online programmes. He also does
a daily podcast. During the last seven years, through his free open courses on Vedanta, Jonas has
taught over a lakh & a half students. Jonas is not only doing great work – he is doing it through a
language understood by a large number of people. People are much keen on knowing how this could
be of help to them during these times of Corona & quarantine.
 NZ MP took oath in Sanskrit:

Newly elected MP in New Zealand Dr. Gaurav Sharma took the Oath of office in one of the ancient
languages of the world – Sanskrit.
 Power of Indian Culture:

From Vancouver to Wellington, from Singapore to South Africa our mythological messages are
heard all around.
 Oaxaca Khadi: (Can be used in Culture / Soft Power / Vocal for Local)
There is a place in Mexico called Oaxaca, there are many villages in this area where the local
villagers weave khadi. Today the khadi of this place has gained popularity by the name Oaxaca
khaadi. How khadi reached Oaxaca is no less interesting. In fact a young person of Oaxaca, Mark
Brown once watched a movie on Mahatma Gandhi. Brown got so inspired by watching this movie on
Bapu that he visted Bapu’s ashram in India, understood him and learnt about him in depth. It was
then, that Brown realised that khadi was not just a cloth; it was a complete way of life. Brown was
deeply moved by the way khadi was intertwined with the rural economy and self sufficiency. It was
here that Brown resolved to work on khadi on his return to Mexico. He introduced the villagers of
Oaxaca in Mexico to khadi and trained them. And now Oaxaca khadi has become a brand. The
website of this project bears the inscription ‘the symbol of Dharma in motion’.
 Mallakhambh :
Mallakhambh is gaining popularity in many countries. When Chinmay Patankar and Pragya
Patankar decided to teach Mallakhambh out of their home in America, little did they know how
successful it would be. Mallakhambh training centers are running at many locations across America.
A large number of American Youth are joining and learning Mallakhambh. Be it Germany, Poland or
Malaysia – Mallakhambh is becoming popular in around 20 other countries. And now, its World
Championship has also been started which sees participants from many countries. Ancient India
had many such sports which would bring about extraordinary growth within oneself – they give new
dimensions to our mind and body balance.
 Suriname: India has a very close relationship with ‘Suriname’. More than a hundred years ago,
people from India went there, and made it their home. Today, the fourth or the fifth generation is
_______________________________________________________________
there. Today in Suriname more than one fourth of the people are of Indian origin. ‘Sarnami’ one of
the common languages there is a dialect of Bhojpuri. We Indians feel very proud of these cultural
relations.
Recently Shri Chandrika Parasad Santokhi has become the new president of Suriname. He
started his oath with Veda hymns; he spoke in Sanskrit.
Atmanirbhar Bharat
 Link Atmanirbhar Bharat with Swadeshi Movement and work of Sri Aurobindo : Just
as at present when we are moving forward with the campaign ‘Vocal for Local’, Sri Aurobindo’s
philosophy of Swadeshi shows us the path. He famously said that here, even the sewing needle and
match stick come on a foreign ship! The people are not free even in eating, drinking, sleeping!
He also used to say that Swadeshi means that we give priority to the things made by our Indian
workers and artisans. It is not that Sri Aurobindo ever opposed learning anything from abroad.
Wherever there is anything new, we should learn from there and then support and encourage what
can be good for our country-and that is the spirit of the Vocal for Local Mantra in the Atmanirbhar
Bharat campaign. Especially what Shri Aurobindo opined about adopting Swadeshi should be read
by every citizen today.
 Pulwama - Pencil Town:

Pulwama in Kashmir is playing an important role in educating the entire country. Today, when
children all over the nation do their homework, or prepare notes, somewhere behind this lies the
hard work of the people of Pulwama! The Kashmir Valley meets almost 90% demand for the Pencil
Slats, timber casings of the entire country, and of that, a very large share comes from Pulwama.
Once upon a time we used to import wood for pencils from abroad, but, now our Pulwama is making
the country self-sufficient in the field of pencil making. In fact, these Pencil Slats of Pulwama are
reducing the gaps between states! Chinar wood of the valley has high moisture content and softness,
which makes it most suitable for the manufacture of pencils. In Pulwama, Oukhoo is known as the
Pencil Village. Here, several manufacturing units of Pencil Slats are located, which provide
employment, and, in these units, a large number of women are employed.
 Link Gandhiji's principles and Atmanirbhar Bharat:

The economic principles of Mahatma Gandhi, if we would have been able to understand their spirit,
grasp it and practically implement them, then the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan would not have
been needed today. Gandhiji’s economic vision understood the pulse of the country and had the
fragrance of India in them. Revered Bapu’s life reminds us to ensure that all our actions should be
such that it leads to the well being of the poor and deprived.
 Link it with Non-Cooperation Movement:

A hundred years ago when the Non-cooperation movement started, Gandhi ji had written – “Non-
cooperation movement is an effort to make countrymen realise their self-respect and their power”.
Today, when we are trying to make the country self-reliant, we have to move with full confidence;
and make the country self-reliant in every area. A seed that was sown in the form of the Non-
cooperation movement, it is now the responsibility of all of us to transform it into banyan tree of
self-reliant India.
 Madhubani Masks: In Bihar, many women self help groups have begun making masks with
Madhubani motifs… by and by, they turned out to be very popular. These Madhubani masks, in a
way, propagate a regional tradition; besides protecting health, they also create opportunities for
livelihood.
 Bamboo Bottles: Bamboo which grows abundantly in the North East. Now, using the same
Bamboo, artisans of Tripura, Manipur and Assam have started crafting high quality water bottles
and Tiffin-boxes.
 PM urged the students to live for the country and join the movement of Atmanirbhar Bharat and
develop a sense of responsibility.
_______________________________________________________________
 Today self-reliance is etched in the mind of every Indian. We are also witnessing the realization of
that dream of Self-Reliant India (“AatmaNirbharBharat”). “Self-reliant India” is not just a word, it
has become a mantra for 130 crore countrymen.
 Today the world is interconnected and inter-dependent. So, it is the need of the hour that a vast
country like India should increase its contribution to the world economy. It is also India’s duty
towards world welfare. If India wants to increase its contribution then she herself will have to be
empowered; she will have to be self-reliant or ‘AatmaNirbhar’. We must make ourselves capable of
contributing towards world welfare. If our roots are strong and we are capable enough, we will be
able to take steps towards world welfare.
 Value Addition Needed : Our country has plenty of natural resources. It is the need of the hour
that we start the value addition of these natural resources and human resources; and to take the
country to new heights. How long shall we continue to export raw material to the world? How long
will the process of exporting raw material and importing finished goods continue? So, we will have
to be self-reliant. We will have to resort to value addition of our capabilities as per the world’s
requirements. It is our responsibility. We want to move ahead in the field of value addition to
contribute to world welfare.
 Re-skill and Up-skill : When we talk about becoming self-reliant, then we do not merely refer to
decreasing the import demands. When we talk of self-reliance, it is about our skills, our human
resources. When we start sourcing things from abroad, then our capabilities start depleting and
consequently, it gets completely destroyed over generations. We need to preserve it and enhance
that caliber of ours. We need to accentuate our skills, our creativity and with that we need to touch
new heights. We need to strengthen skill development for a self-reliant India, for improving our
competency.
 Vocal for Local : What should be the mind-set of independent India? The mind-set of
independent India should be ‘Vocal for Local’. We should take pride in our local products. If we do
not praise and support our indigenous products, then how will they get an opportunity to flourish
and improve, how will they gain strength? Come, let’s pledge that as we move towards the 75th year
of our independence, we shall adopt the talisman of ‘Vocal for Local’ and together let's strengthen
ourselves.
 The priority of a self-reliant India is a self-reliant farming sector and self-reliant farmers.
 Conclusion : Our policies, processes, products- everything must be par excellence, the best, and
then only the idea of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ can be achieved. Today, again we need to take a
resolve that we will fulfill the dreams of those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. This pledge
must be for 1.3 billion citizens, for our future generations, for their bright future, for the self-reliant
India. We must take a pledge, we must take an oath, that we will contribute towards reducing the
import dependence, we will empower our small-scale industries, we all will be vocal for local. we will
innovate more, empower our youth, women, scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, specially
differently-abled, economically weaker sections, villages, backward classes, and everyone.
Essay on Caste / Backward Class
Quotes on Caste
 Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus
from co-mingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of the
mind. - B. R. Ambedkar
 I am neither a child, a young man, nor an ancient; nor am I of any caste. - Guru Nanak
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 I cannot believe there is caste system in society; I cannot believe people are judged on the basis of
their prosperity. - Saina Nehwal
 "According to the Buddha's doctrine that they believed in, it was not the caste that defined a person
high or low. It was one's deeds that mattered.” ― Swarnakanthi Rajapakse in "The Master's
Daughter"
 The caste system is opposed to the religion of the Vedanta. Caste is a social custom, and all our great
preachers have tried to break it down. —Swami Vivekananda
 Untouchability shuts all doors of opportunities for betterment in life for Untouchables. It does not
offer an Untouchable any opportunity to move freely in society. -Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
 Caste is not just a division of labour, it is a division of labourers. -Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
 A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. -Thomas Reid
Data on Caste
 The government of India act 1935 carried definition of Scheduled caste (SC) which carried out post-
Independence.
 The census of 1931 provided definition of Scheduled tribes (ST).
 The particularly vulnerable tribes groups (PVTG) were classified by ministry of Tribal affairs.
 In 1978 Mandal commission recognised the other back ward classes. These were the communities
which were socially, economically, educationally backward and did not fall under schedule caste and
schedule tribes.
 In year 2004 centre set up a commission for economically backwards, these were the people having
annual income less than 1 Lakh and were not categorize as SC/ST and OBC.
 73% SC lives in rural areas
 97.65 ST lives in rural areas
 38.5% of rural population is OBC
 As census 2011 U.P has highest SC population
 M.P has highest ST population
 U.P has highest OBC population
Examples on Caste
 Lata Singh vs State of UP (2006)

Supreme Court in Lata Singh vs State of UP held that inter-caste marriages are not banned under
the Hindu Marriage Act or any other law. The maximum that relatives can do if they disagree with
the inter-caste marriage of their children is to cut off all bonds with them. “But they cannot give
threats or commit or instigate acts of violence and cannot harass the person who undergoes such
inter-caste or inter-religious marriage.
 The Supreme Court held that inter-caste marriages are in “national interest” as a unifying factor in a
nation where caste system is a “curse”. “The caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it
is destroyed the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when we have to be united to face
the challenges before the nation. Inter-caste marriages are, in fact, in national interest as they will
result in destroying the caste system,” a Bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra
held in a judgment.
 A Dalit boy’s wrist was chopped off because he was wearing a watch; another was killed as he had a
song on (social reformer) B.R. Ambedkar as his ringtone.
Backward Castes
_______________________________________________________________
 Gandhi ji named Harijan as ‘children of God’ started Harijan Sevak Sangh.

 In Ancient India people were grouped as per Varna system.
 Untouchables were added as fifth class to carry out work like cleaning up after funerals, carry
human excreta
 Compared to other societies India society is more divided.
 Historically backwards are most disadvantageous and deprived ones in the society.
 They participated in India’s struggle for Independence, shared their shoulder in many freedom
movements
 There is no dearth of social movements by leaders like Jyotibha phule, Periyar, Mahatma Gandhi &
B.R Ambedkar like harijan sabha, society for depressed class
 This divide within people hampered integration of Indian society
 Post-Independence backwards have been exploited more for vote bank politics than social change
being talked by various political parties
Backward Legal Provisions
 Constitutional body status to Commission for SC/ST

 Separate Ministries for SC/ST & OBC to support development
 Listing of SC/ST & OBC as scheduled
 Listing of scheduled areas & scheduled tribes
 Prevention of atrocities act to protect backwards
 Reservations in Govt jobs, institutions, municipalities, panchayats to increase participation
 Mandate under DPSP
 International Bodies/organizations like UN, UNDP, UDHR,MDG/SDG goals working to erase
inequality
 Parliamentary standing committee on social justice and empowerment
 Foundations and NGO role in raising the voice of people
 Government Schemes are launched timely, regionally to ensure inclusive development, cater needs
of backwards and upliftment of status.
 Acts for forest rights and self-governance of gram sabha
Essay on Children
Quotes on Children
 If we have to bring real peace in the world, we must begin with children - Mahatma Gandhi
 There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children" -
Mandela
 Child is the father of man.
 “We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children,
neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. To him we
cannot answer ‘Tomorrow.’ His name is today.” - Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral
 "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public
investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence
and fear." — Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
 "It's the greatest poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." —
Mother Teresa
 Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the
future of the Nation and the citizens of tomorrow. - Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
_______________________________________________________________
 A child miseducated is a child lost. - John F Kennedy
Child Labour
 “Child labor perpetuates poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population growth, and other social
problems.” -- Kailash Satyarthi
 “Child slavery is a crime against humanity. Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still
remains, but I will see the end of child labor in my lifetime.” - Kailash Satyarthi
 Small hands can handle a pen better. Lend your support to abolish child labor.
 Child Is Meant To Learn, Not To Earn.
Data for Children
 Census 2011 :
o Total Population : 121.1 crore
o Children 0-6 years : 16.45 crore (13.59%)
o Children 0-14 years : 37.24 crore (30.76%)
 According to economic survey, India’s preference for boys has produced 21 million unwarranted
girls. - Son Meta Preference
 Assocham-EY report- India has largest number of malnourished children in the world.
 About 37 per cent of our under-five children are underweight; 39 per cent are stunted; 21 per cent
are wasted;
 According to a report of International Labour Organization (ILO) 200 million children below 15
have to earn their livelihood.
International:
 155 million children are stunted
 52 million are wasted
 41 million are overweight
 Nordic countries are the best to raise a kid
 Children in Africa are suffering the vice of wars
 Somalia: The children are the worst sufferers
 Refugee crisis impact- Syrian civil war, Rohingya identity crisis, and Yemen civil War led to the
migration of community
IMR : Under MDG 4, one of the targets is to reduce Infant Mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
At the national level, it translates into a goal of reducing IMR from 88 per thousand live births in 1990 to 29
in 2015. IMR of India as of 2013 was 40 per thousand live births and it’s unlikely that India will achieve the
target.
Crime against Children : As per information available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),
a total of 33,052 cases, 38,172 cases and 58,224 cases were registered under crime against children during
2011-2013 respectively, showing an increasing trend.
Number of Missing Children in India

As per the data provided by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), on an average less than one lakh
children went missing every year since 2011.
Sl. No. Year Number of missing children

1. 2011 90654
2. 2012 65038
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3. 2013 77721
4. 2014 73549
Child Issues:
 Abuse and violence
 Hidden Hunger
 Child Sexual Abuse
 Malnutrition
 Sex-Selection
 Child Labour
 Child Trafficking
 Missing Parental Care
 Poverty
 Child Marriage
Examples for Children
TrackChild : To create a mechanism for tracking ‘missing’ and ‘found’ children, the Ministry of Women
and Child Development has developed a national portal called ‘TrackChild’ which has data on ‘missing’ and
‘found’ children.
Childline: Children Helpline

CHILDLINE is a platform bringing together the Ministry for Women & Child Development (GOI), working
in Partnership with State Governments, NGOs, International Organizations, the Corporate Sector,
Concerned Individuals and Children. CHILDLINE is the crucial link between children in need of care and
protection and the available services.
Legal Provisions for Children
 Right To Education Act

 Fundamental Rights(Article 13, 21, 24, 15, 21A, 28 and 30)
 DPSP(37,38,39,41,45,46,47)
 Fundamental Duty(51A)
 Panchayats (243B, 243G), Municipality(243Q, 243W)
 Atal Tinkering Labs
 Nai Talim: Gandhian Philosophy
 Happiness curriculum
 Criminal (Amendment) Bill2018
 Juvenile Justice Act 2015
 POCSO Act 2012
 The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006
 Child labour (Prohibition and Prevention) Amendment Act, 2016.
 Pencil.gov.in portal.
Internationally:
 ILO Convention No. 182
 ILO Convention No. 138
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education - 'Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and
promote lifelong learning' by 2030
Essay on Communal Harmony / Terrorism
_______________________________________________________________
Quotes on Communal Harmony/ Terrorism
 Moko Kahan Dhundhe re Bande

Mein to tere pass main
Na Teerath mein, na moorat mein
Na ekant niwas mein
Na MANDIR mein, Na MASJID mein
Na KABE KAILAS mein
Mein to tere pass mein bande
Mein to tere pass mein
Means
Where do you search for me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitude
Not in TEMPLES, nor in MOSQUES
Neither in KAABA, nor in KAILASH
I am with you O man
I am with you
This poem can be used to conclude or start your essay on communal harmony/terrorism
 Terrorism is the tactic of demanding the impossible and demanding it at gunpoint
 Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a 100 brilliant saves but the only shot
that people remember is the one that gets past you
 The essence of non-violent technique is that it seeks to liquidate antagonisms but not the
antagonists. - Gandhi
 Terrorism is a significant threat to peace and security, prosperity and people. - Ban- Ki Moon
Examples for Terrorism
In the recent past, the picture of a small boy lying face down in the sand at Turkey beach that
surfaced across social and print media, was of a Syrian boy who drowned in an apparent
attempt to flee the terrorist attacks ravaging his country.
Such heart wrenching incidents are aplenty in media today and the underlying cause of such incidents is
terrorism. Terrorism is not a new phenomenon- its form has changed over the years but irrespective of its
age it has caused immeasurable loss of life and property. Much of it today emanates from various brands of
religious fanaticism or religion masked political extremism, though at deeper levels historical inequities in
land distraction, living conditions, political, economic and cultural dominance and military presence are
also involved. By nature, ‘terrorism’ implies the use of highly aggressive, horrible, inhuman and cruel
practices, and, the expression ‘terrorism’ presupposes the use of violence, violence can never have long
lasting peace. To uproot terrorism, we need non-violent strategies the methods of which can be best found
in Indian Philosophy.
Essay on Corruption
Quotes on Corruption
 Corruption is like a ball of snow. Once it sets rolling, it must increase. - Charles Colton
_______________________________________________________________
 Power corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. - Lord Acton
 "Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power." -
George Bernard Shaw
 Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps the fear of a loss of power. – John Steinbeck
 The worst disease in the world today is corruption. And there is a cure: transparency. – Bono
 Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It's self-defense. It's patriotism. - Joe Biden
 Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the
former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. – Karl Kraus
 As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in remaking the world but in remaking ourselves -
Mahatma Gandhi
 Righteousness is the foundation stone of peace and good governance. - Confucius
 Dharma is the foundation stone of good governance. - Buddha
 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.
Essay on Democracy
Quotes on Democracy
 Democracy is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people - Abraham Lincoln
 Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried
from time to time - Winston Churchill

What it should be What it actually is
OF the people OFF the people
FOR the people FAR the people
BY the people BUY the people
 In a democracy, VOX POPULI (Voice of people) should be VOX DEI (Voice of God)
 Pillars of democracy : 3D i.e. Debate, Discuss and Dialogue
 Democracy can't be restricted to elections and government. Democracy is strengthened by "Jan

Bhagidari" i.e. People Participation
 Example of Jan Bhagidari - On independence Day people took oath to donate time for public service
of their choice and by its implementation huge human resource were invested in various projects
 Jan Bhagidari is the biggest asset of democracy
_______________________________________________________________
 Democracy is nothing more than an angry mob, where 51% of the people may take away the rights of
the other 49% - Thomas Jefferson
 Good governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our government. Implementation with
integrity is our core passion. - Narendra Modi
 Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's
the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead
 In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and
the will of the majority is supreme. - Aristotle
 Democracy works when people claim it as their own. - BILL MOYERS
 The ballot is stronger than the bullet. - ABRAHAM LINCOLN
 Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of
equality to equals and unequal alike. - Plato
 Democracy, like liberty, justice and other social and political rights, is not "given", it is earned
through courage, resolution and sacrifice. - AUNG SAN SUU KYI
 Democracy is the road to socialism. - KARL MARX
 A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user. ― Theodore
Roosevelt
 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
 There cannot be daily democracy without daily citizenship. - Ralph Nader
 I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong. -
Mahatma Gandhi
 Democracy is not law of the majority but protection of the minority. - Albert Camus
 In a democracy, the individual enjoys not only the ultimate power, but carries the ultimate
responsibility. - Norman Cousins
 Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors. -Thomas Jefferson
 The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. - Plato
 A Constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing. It acquires life because of the men who control it
and operate it, and India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the
interest of the country before them. - Rajendra Prasad
 A Constitution can provide only the organs of State, the factors on which the working of those
organs of the State depend are the people and the political parties they will set up as their
instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics. Who can say how the people of India and
their parties will behave? - B.R. Ambedkar
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Examples on Democracy
Struggle of Tawa Matsya Sangh
Originating in the Mahadeo hills of Chindwara district, the Tawa flows through Betul, before joining the
Narmada in Hoshangabad. The Tawa dam began to be built in 1958 and was completed in 1978.
In 1994, the government gave the rights for fishing in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors.
The newly formed Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) organised rallies and a chakka jam (road blockade),
demanding their right to continue fishing for their livelihood. In response to their protests, the government
created a committee to assess the issue. The committee recommended that fishing rights be granted to the
villagers for their livelihood. In 1996, the Madhya Pradesh government decided to give to the people
displaced by the Tawa dam the fishing rights for the reservoir. A five-year lease agreement was signed two
months later. On January 2, 1997, people from 33 villages of Tawa started the new year with the first catch.
With the TMS taking over the fishworkers were able to increase their earnings substantially. This was
because they set up the cooperative which would buy the catch from them at a fair price. The cooperative
would then arrange to transport and sell this in markets where they would get a good price.
Essay on Disabled/ Differently Abled
 Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan : Government's program to increase accessibility
 "It is true that I am a handicap; But it only means that I have to take a different path to move
forward" - Robert Hensel
Essay on Discrimination / Inequality
 Many sections are crippled by the chains of discrimination.
 SC/Minority/OBC live on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material
prosperity.
 Hundreds of year later, SC/tribal are still languishing in the corners of Indian society and find
themselves as exile in their own lands.
 I believe that virtually all the problems in the world come from inequality of one kind or another. -
Amartya Sen
 India should not be a pyramidal but an oceanic circle of complete equality. -Mahatma Gandhi
 It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence. -Voltaire
 Over a long period of time, the main force in favour of greater equality has been the diffusion of
knowledge and skills. -Thomas Piketty
 The widening gap between rich and poor is not just natural phenomena. It is a sign that much of
what we have been doing, especially in terms of models of economic growth, has been wrong. -
Winnie Byanyima
_______________________________________________________________
Essay on Economy
Economy is the basis of society. When the economy is stable, society develops. The ideal economy combines
the spiritual and the material, and the best commodities to trade in are sincerity and love. - Morihei
Ueshiba
History:
 Economic thoughts date back to the Greeks and Romans.
 Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, has been called the most economically provocative analytic writing
in ancient Greece
 Arthashastra: India’s Economic thought in Ancient India
 Trade was common even in the ancient times, showing demands and supply factors
 History has given models of Economy: Communism, Capitalism etc.
 Change in approach since Great Depression, 1930
History of Indian Economy:

Economic history of India is at least five thousand years old. Indian economic history can be broadly
classified in three era’s beginning with the:-
1. Pre-colonial period lasting upto 17th Century.
2. The British colonialisation started the colonial period in the 17th Century which lasted till India got its
independence in 1947.
3. The third period stretches from independence in 1947 until the present.
1. Pre-Colonial Period:
The pre-colonial periods starts from 3300 B.C. and stretches upto 1818 A.D.
 Indus Valley Civilisation: The economy of Indus Valley Civilization was based upon agriculture
and trade. The well constructed streets, drainage system and water supplies in major cities evidenced
of how prosperous the economic system was there. Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Rakhigarhi worked
their footstep in planning an urban civilisation.
 Ancient and Medieval Period : The Indian economy was almost entirely a rural economy. Most
of the population resided in villages, largely had a self-sustaining economy. The main occupation was
agriculture along with industries, food, textile, crafts etc. There were people like weavers, barbers,
carpenters, doctors (ayurvedic). The barrier which had drawn the different people into different caste
and sub-caste restricted economic prosperity to few classes. The caste barrier resulted an economic
barrier also.It restricted the people from changing one’s occupation and not to divert them to one’s
another lifestyle. Thus a carpenter could not become a Kshatriya or a Kshatriya could not become a
Bramhana.
o Coinage – Punched marked silver coins introduced around 5th century B.C and the first
metallic coins were minted around 6th century B.C. Among Indian kingdoms and rulers, barter
were widely common, many of them issued coins. The craftsmen received stipend money during
their harvest time, while they had to pay a portion of their agricultural produce as revenue.
o Maurya Empire
 The Indian economy had gone into a vast change during the Mauryan Empire (321 -
185 B.C.). The Arthasastra, (Science of State) was written by Chanakya an advisor to
Chandragupta Maurya, the most successful ruler in Maurya dynasty, described the detailed
ancient textual description of economics, political and administration.
 The improved infrastructure security and usage of coins was increased which
enhanced trade. Building of roads, throughout India flourishes the transporting business.
Trade route became secured, which reduced the risk associated with the transportation of
goods. Several centuries later, the Maurya Empire, economic situation was compared with
the Roman Empire.
 India had the world’s largest economy in the 1st century and 11th century which was
mentioned by an economic historian Angus Maddison in his book, “The World Economy; A
Millennial Perspective”.
o Mughal Rule:
 India's economy during the Mughul Period (1526-1803), as in the ages before, was
predominantly agricultural. More than seventy-five per cent of the population lived in the
_______________________________________________________________
villages and were directly or indirectly connected with land. There was enough spared land
and very often the government had to resort to persuasion to make the peasantry extend
the area under cultivation.
 Akbar encouraged silk industry and, contrary to the usual orthodox Muslim practice
in, other countries, large quantities of silk cloth were required for the royal workshops and
wardrobe, and by the nobles and other upper class people throughout the country.
 Silk industry progressed greatly in the time of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Many
thousand bales of silk yam were sent out every year from Cossimbazar in Bengal. ü
European traveller, named William Finch, who visited India during 1608-1611, also praised
the prosperous condition of the country.
 Despite recurring famines here and there, there was, taking the entire country in view,
no dearth of food grains and other necessities of life. India was, generally speaking,
prosperous during the Mughal age.
o Nawab, Maratha and Nizam Rule :
 During the period of 1725 to 1775 in North India Mughals were replaced by Nawabs,
In Central India the Marathas and in South India the Nizams were come into existence.
However, the Mughal tax administration system remained intact.
1. Colonial Period: The British Rule can be classified into two periods. First the East India Company
Rule from 1757-1858, and second, the Rule of-the British Government in India from 1858-1947.
o East India Company Rule: 1757-1858:
 The main motive of the Britishers was to exploit the Indian resources for their
advantages. They shifted the trade with rest of the world. They established the developed
system of railways, telegraphs and legal system.
 The British concentrated that the Indian economy, trade and commerce and
industrialization should not flourished, and made it stagnant in the developmental process.
The main motive of the British regime was to transform the Indian economy as a primary
producing country, concentrating on the production of raw materials and to create a
potential market in India for the sale of their industrial finished goods. They introduced
new land revenue system in India. The companies rule resulted a total drained in the
economic system of India. The economic consequences of British conquest, mainly
hampered the growth of smack and cottage industries.
 The Land system during 1793-1850: The impact of the British rule in India,
introduced a new land system. Land revenue was the principle source of finance for the
East India Company. They introduced land settlement in 1793, and permanent settlement
was introduced. A vast change occurred in Indian economy by the introduction of such
settlements. India becomes an exporter of foodstuffs and raw-materials and an importer of
manufacturers. British capital interested to take up direct investment in Indian consumer
goods industries to acquire a major portion of the profits through various malpractices and
to force India to pay the cost of British administration as well as to finance the ware and
expeditions undertaken by the British Government.
 The Britishers pressurized the Indians to export indigo and forced the farmers to
cultivate and sell the indigo plant at a very low price, to have a fabulous profit from it, they
also exploit the artisans, to deliver cotton and silk fabrics much below the market price.
 The historians blamed the Colonial rule for the decline of Indian economy.
1. Post Independence till date:
o India had low average growth rate from 1947-1980. Moreover the structural economic
disparities between the two complementary portion of India -India and rate at the time between
1965-89, resulted by this drought, to a severe devaluation of rupee. The economic growth in
between 1951-1979 was at an average rate of about 3.1% an year.
o The inefficiency of the industrial business resulted an economic stagenatation, Wars of 1962
with China, 1965 with Pakistan, 1971 with Bangladesh, currency devaluation in 1966, and flood
of refugees from East Bengal in 1971, all jolted the economy.
o From the late 1980’s India faced an economic deficit in the contemporary world, due to the
collapse of Soviet Union, which was the prime partner of Trade with India. Another reason was
the emergence of Gulf War caused spike in oil prices, major balance of payment crisis in India.
o The then Prime Minister Narashima Rao and his Finance Minister Manmohan Singh
initiated economic liberation and allowed the foreign direct investments in many sectors. Since
_______________________________________________________________
1990 there were a continuous economic growth which increased the rate of life expectancies,
literacy rates and food security.
o The economic reform in 1991 brought three broad areas, (a) Liberalisation, (b) Privatisation
and (c) Globalisation. This trend marked an enormous change in Indian economy since
independence.
o The Indian economy was hampered in 1997, due to the Asia Economic Crisis, in Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, and Hong Kong, South Korea. Many economists
considered that Indian economy has not declined but having a slow growth. At the beginning of
the 21st century India had got a turnover in the developmental process of economic growth.
Economy and Society:

 Economics deals with production, consumption and distribution of wealth in society. These
economic factors play a vital role in the development of the individual.
 Advancement in society is related to economic development
 Economic development is related to Human development
 Women and other vulnerable sections feels more inclusive and are facilitated for a better living
 The type of Society develops the type of economy it will have.
Economy and Geography:

 Understanding the reciprocal relationships between Geography and economic processes
 Geography guides the type of economic activity, while economy helps bridging the geographic gaps
 Resources, Industrial setup etc. are guided by the geography of a place
 Trade is affected by geography ü But to facilitate industrial setup, economy needs to be boosted up
 Developed North Vs Underdeveloped & Developing South
 In India: Rural Vs Urban, Coast Vs Inland cities
Economy and Science:

 Advancement in Science and technology demands a lot of investments, which have very long
gestation period.
 Scientific research drives economic growth, innovation and improved wellbeing
 Biomedical research has generally been looked at for its health benefits, but the case for it
generating economic growth is pretty compelling
 Economists have agreed for decades that a large component of modern economic growth has to be
driven by 'innovation' — that is, the arrival of new ideas and technologies
 As per the Government records, the number of Indian scientists coming back to India to pursue
research opportunities has increased from 243 in 2007-2012 to 649 between 2012 and 2017
 Crypto-currencies
 Globalization aided by Science advancement
 Trade facilitated by Science and Technology
Essay on Agriculture
Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man. - George
Washington
The discovery of agriculture was the first big step toward a civilized life. When our nomadic ancestors began
to settle and grow their own food, human society was forever changed. Not only did villages, towns and
cities begin to flourish, but so did knowledge, the arts and the technological sciences.
Importance of agriculture
 Economic - poverty alleviation, empowerment, food inflation, dependency of other sectors.
 Social - Migration control, nutrition needs
 International - increase in exports; improved BoP situation; More forex reserves; improved strategic
say in global arena
Example of how farmers can help themselves: (Mentioned by PM)
_______________________________________________________________
Mohammad Aslam ji from Baran district in Rajasthan is working to increase awareness among farmers. He
is also the CEO of a farmer producer organization. He has made a Whatsapp group comprising several
farmers from his area. On this group everyday he shares updates with the farmers on prevalent prices at
neighbouring Mandis in the area. His own FPO also buys produce from farmers, hence, this effort of his
also helps farmers in taking a decision.
Use of Technology (Way to increase income):

A self help group of women in Jharkhand have accomplished this feat. These women worked to deliver
vegetables and fruits to households directly from the fields of the farmers.These women got an app ‘Ajivika
Farm Fresh’ designed through which people could directly order vegetables to be delivered at their homes.
Through this initiative, the farmers were ensured of a fair price for their produce and fresh vegetables were
also available for the buyers. This idea of ‘Ajivika farm fresh’ app is gaining a lot of popularity there – fruits
and vegetables worth more than 50 Lakhs were delivered by them during the lockdown.
Farmers in Vedas:
In the Vedas too, our food provider, Annadaata, the life sustaining shakti of our farmers has been gloriously
venerated. There is a mantra in Rigved –
Annanam PatayeNamah
Kshetranam PatayeNamah
Which means,
Bow to the food provider
Salute to the farmer.
SWOT analysis of Indian agriculture

 Strength-abundance of natural resources, high proportion of cultivable land(2nd largest),suitable
climate, emergence of enterprising farmers. Long history and tradition; rich and diverse natural
resource-base; wide climatic diversity conducive for the production of a variety of crops, animals
and fishes and a vast input-support system; large institutional network manned by qualified human
resource; democratic and pluralistic society and a large and diverse domestic market. All these are
elements conducive to future agricultural growth.
 Weakness-average yield below
world average, lack of technological
advancements, inadequate
IAS4Sure Notes
irrigation facilities, credit availability  Topicwise Arranged notes
for small farmers, growing competition
with other sectors for resources,  Shared via Onenote / Evernote
depletion of natural resources, poor
socio-economic profile & literacy levels  Daily updated
of farmers.
 Small and scattered land-holdings  Loaded with Facts / Examples
and their continued fragmentation; low
and declining investment in Read more at www.ias4sure.com
agriculture; low input-use efficiency;
inadequate credit support; weak agro-
based industry; adverse terms of trade;
inadequate marketing, storage,
transportation, agricultural extension and IPR mechanisms. A long-term perspective plan is non-
existent. The result is low productivity and yield plateauing in certain commodities.
 Opportunities-Huge market both domestic and international, involvement of private sector in
value chains, growth in organized retail and online retail markets.
 Vast potential for improving productivity of crops, livestock and fisheries; scope for bringing
wastelands, lowlands and other problem soils under cultivation through application of modern
technologies; tremendous scope for higher investment in farm mechanization, agro-based industries
and rural development; and vast opportunities for export of agricultural commodities through
diversification and trade.
 Exploitation of genetic resources using biotechnological tools Exploitation of hybrid vigour in
conventional and non-conventional crops Introduction and exploitation of underutilized and new
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crop species Increasing cropping intensity and input-use efficiency Improving quality of produce
Minimizing post-harvest losses Tapping traditional wisdom of farmers.
Threats/ Challenges to Indian agriculture –

 Alarming growth rate of population, it is estimated to reach 1.3 billion by 2020.
 foot dragging of farmers,
 distress and suicide among farmers,
 frequent extreme climate events,
 climate change,
 unsustainable resource use,
 rising costs of production,
 growing quality concerns by conscious consumers
 Small and fragmented land holdings->difficulty in using modern machinery
 Imbalanced use of fertilizers and pesticides->soil salinization
 Shortage of good quality seeds especially for small and marginal farmers->bad yield
 Heavy dependence on monsoon->limited sowing season
 Improper irrigation facilities->wastage of water at one place and scarcity at one place
 Improper post-harvest storage facilities, marketing facilities->wastage
 Diversion of cultivable land to non-agricultural uses(urbanization)->less land at hand
 Limited procurement of food grains by government->less incentives for farmers
 Failure to provide remunerative prices to farmers->Scarcity of capital->Debt traps ->suicides (i.e.
capital infusion needed)
What needs to be done?

 Raising productivity-shift to high value commodities, realizing horticulture potential, new
technology, irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, contract farming, healthy livestock, Higher water use
efficiency
 Better remunerative prices for farmers-marketing reforms, MSP reforms
 Relief measures- Crop insurance and inclusive farm credit
 Agricultural land policy-modernization of land records, land leasing, tenancy reforms(ownership
rights)
 Efficient land use-incentivize sustainable farm operations
 Better soil health->improved yields
 Higher extent of food processing
 Innovative solutions- e-technologies in aid of farmers (online portals, DD kisan),GM crops, BT
cotton, e-NAM.
Essay on Education
Quotes on Education
 Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man - Swami Vivekananda
 The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.
 The education of a man is never completed until he dies - Robert E Lee
 To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to the society - Theodore
Roosevelt
 We do not want book worms, we want man making, character building education - Swami
Vivekananda
 Education should be such which takes us to perfection
 Education begins in womb and ends in tomb
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 Stagnant minds create immobile systems which becomes roadblock to growth. Hence creative
thinking in needed.
 Economy is the material part of development. Education is the essential part of it.
 Education that does not mould the character is absolutely worthless. - Mahatma Gandhi
 If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in term of 100
years, teach the people" (importance of human capital) - Confucius
 The illiterate of the twenty first century will not be those who do not read or write but those who do
not learn, re-learn and un-learn. –Alvin Toffler
 Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela.
 The pen is mightier than the sword. - Edward Lytton (Father of Robert Lytton, Governor General
of British India)
 A child educated only at school is an uneducated child
 Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of real education - Martin Luther King Jr.
 If the ability of fish is measured by its ability to climb a tree then fish would have lived it's entire life
thinking that it is stupid. -Albert Einstein
 The imposing tower of misery which today rests on the heart of India has its sole foundation in the
absence of education.” This is as true today as it was nearly 90 years back. - Rabindranath
Tagore
 Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Mahatma Gandhi
 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
 Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.
 Education is a bridge from misery to hope
 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
 An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. - Benjamin Franklin
 The difference between an educated and an uneducated person is the existence of tolerance and
principles in the former and the absence of morals and reasoning in the latter.
 Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. - Aristotle
 What terrifies religious extremists like the Taliban are not American tanks or bombs or bullets… It’s
a girl with a book. -Malala Yousafzai
 One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. -Malala Yousafzai
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 Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope - Kofi Annan
 Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil. - CS
Lewis
Data on Education
 The adult literacy rate (15+ Age Group) has shown an upward trend for females as well as males.
It has increased from 61% to 69.3% during the period 2001-2011. As per NSS 71st round
findings, Adult Literacy rate stands 70.5% for year 2014.
 Between 2001 to 2011, the increase in adult literacy rate was higher among females than males and
the gender gap was also narrowing down.
 As against the ₹72,394 crore allocated for education in last year’s budget estimates, the
corresponding amount for financial year 2017-18 is ₹79,686-crore. Of this ₹46,356 crore is for the
department of school education and literacy, and ₹33,329.7 crore for the department of higher
education.
 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER 2020)

o Indian students, especially those in elementary school (Classes I-VIII), are not learning
enough. To cite a metric, only half (50.3%) of all students in Class V can read texts meant
for Class II students.
o The percentage of girls out of school remains higher than 8%.
o The gender gap in private school admission has moderately decreased.
 8th All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for the year 2016-17
o There is an increase in overall enrolment from 27.5 million in 2010-11 to 35.7 million in
2016-17 and improvement in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) which is a ratio of enrolment in
higher education to population in the eligible age group (18-23) years, from 19.4% in 2010-11
to 25.2 in 2016-17 which is a significant achievement.
 Gender Parity Index (GPI), a ratio of proportional representation of female and male, has
improved from 0.86 to 0.94 to the corresponding period.
 Number of institutions of higher education listed on AISHE portal has also increased significantly –
from 621 universities in 2010-11 to 864 in 2016-17 and from 32,974 colleges in 2010-11 to 40,026
colleges in 2016-17.
 Three Indian institutes -- IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and IISc-Bangalore -- have found place among the
top 200 in the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020.
Examples on Education
Link Sri Aurobindo's thoughts on education and New National Education Policy:
Shri Aurobindo’s views on education were very lucid. He did not consider education to be limited only to
bookish knowledge, degree and job. Sri Aurobindo used to say that our national education should focus on
training of the hearts and minds of our younger generation, that is, scientific development of the mind and
Indian ethos reside in the heart should also be there, then only a young person can become a better citizen
of the country. Whatever Shri Aurobindo said about national education and expected then, the country is
now achieving it through the new National Education Policy.
Education as a social movement:

 Everyone can help propagate education. Even you and me.
 Example Pon Mariyappan from Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu
 Pon Marriyappan is associated with the profession of hair cutting and runs a salon. A very small
salon. He has done an exemplary and an inspiring piece of work. He has converted a small portion
of his salon into a library. If a customer, while waiting for his turn, reads something from the library
and writes on that, Pon Marriyappan, offers him a discount…..isn’t it intresting?
 Usha Dubey : A teacher from Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Usha Dubey ji in fact, has turned a
scooty into a mobile library. Every day she goes to some village or the other with her mobile library
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and teaches children there. Children lovingly call her ‘kitabon waali Didi’, the elder sister with
books.
It has been mentioned in the Geeta-

Na hi gyanen sadrishyam pavitramih vidyate.
Meaning, there is nothing as sacred as knowledge in this world.
IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) based Daily Monitoring System (DMS) of the Mid-
Day Meal Scheme, Uttar Pradesh
 The IVRS based DMS envisages an automated MIS where data of children availing mid day meal
would be available on daily basis. It gives school-wise information access on real time basis through
an out-bound dialing solution wherein calls are placed to all the teachers from a virtual number
using PRI lines. The system generated compilation of the data of number of children who availed
MDM would be keyed-in by the teachers and will be displayed on web the same day. Moreover,
transmission of real time data would not leave scope for data manipulation/distortion and
availability of exception reports would improve efficacy and transparency of the system.
Project Ekalavya, Open Source Knowledge initiative
 Project ekalavya is an endeavour to provide an interactive platform for the creation, absorption,
dissemination and usage of knowledge for the well- being of the individual and the society. The web
portal set up for ekalavya aims at a free exchange of knowledge and ideas, by placing all the relevant
material in the Open Source, thus making considerable contribution to the society. It aspires to
build large collaborative communities the seekers are matched by the givers. It is envisaged that
Project ekalavya will become an all-encompassing activity over the years, using IT effectively for
education at all levels.
Fodder for Education
Education is the process of acquiring or receiving systematic instructions or training at a learning

institution. It is the acquisition of skills, knowledge, values as well as beliefs through various educational
methods including direct research, training, teaching as well as discussion. It is the knowledge that one
acquires in a particular subjects matter, providing an understanding of the matter.
History:
 Ancient times: the main source of knowledge was spiritual texts.
 Gurukul system: education became caste based.
 Early Universities like Takshshila Nalanda emerged.
 New philosophies like Budhhism
 The traditions of learning and education in India are as old as the history of civilization.
 The arrival of the Europeans in India paved the way for modern education based on the scientific
inventions in Europe.
 The Woods Despatch of 1854 started a new era in Indian Education system by clearly defining
objectives of education. It made the Government realize the importance of education for the people.
It presented a comprehensive scheme of education embracing primary, secondary and higher
education.
 Hunter commission of 1882 made a thorough enquiry on the present condition of primary and
secondary education in India. Based on the findings of its enquiry the commission made valuable
recommendations to improve the conditions of primary and secondary education in India.
 National Council of Education (1906) was organised for propagation of education in the whole
country. It aimed to impart, not only literary but scientific and technical education also. The NCE
advocated education through the medium of vernaculars and English as a compulsory subject.
 The Wardha Education Committee (1937) -The wardha scheme is also known as the Zakir
Husain Committee Report. It was the first study dealing exclusively with elementary education.
 University Education Commission (1948-49)
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 National Policy on Education 1968

 National Education Policy 2020 (Read its provisions. It is important)
Challenges:
 Scientific Temper vs Social Science: In the current discourse, improving education quality is being
viewed through the exclusive lens of ‘building a scientific temperament’ with little or no discussion
on inculcating values fostered by social science
 Small schools in terms of enrolment that are economically and academically unviable to provide
quality infrastructure and academic facilities such as library and laboratory.
 Inadequate, Inefficient mobilization and utilization of resources.
 Increasing Population. Demand exceeds supply.
 Faulty educational policies thus hampering quality of education.
 Poverty and high cost of quality non state sponsored education.
 Political and bureaucratic involvement leading to frequent alteration of syllabus, inefficient
supervision
 Rigidity and indifference towards individual differences
 Behavioural changes(suicide among students)
What needs to be done?

 Access to remotest corner, improved teacher-pupil ratio
 PPP models in higher education.
 Focus on foundations.
 Improvement is Gross enrolment ratio in higher education.
 Innovation centric(Research, Thesis to be promoted)
 Attitudinal changes-from being risk aversive to risk takers
 Explore the role of private players
 Improve existing governance mechanism
 Teacher training
 Increased focus on vocational & professional skills in education.
 Autonomy to top colleges.
 More student exchange programs with Foreign universities
Essay on Old age People
Quotes for Old People
 To forget the elderly is to ignore the wisdom of the years – Donald Laird
 Virtue, wealth, and pleasure function as principles of conduct and are regulated by age.
 Nothing is more beautiful than a smile that has struggled through years and tears.
Facts for Old People
 The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe 1st October, 1999 as the
International Year of Older Persons and to promote the theme "A society for All Ages".
 Ever since 1st October every year is celebrated as International Day of Older Persons.
 According to WHO, the population aged 60 and over is expected to increase to an estimated 2 billion
by 2050.
 Life Expectancy in India has increased to 67.5, catching up with the world average of 70.5 years.
 Census 2011: 104 million (60 or above)
 71% of Elderly in India lives in rural areas.
 Kerala has maximum proportion of Elderly people
 6% of elderly population was reported as disabled in rural areas whereas;
 In urban areas 4% of elderly population was disabled.
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Legal Provisions for Old People
 It is the responsibility of the State to provide health care and assistance to the elderly, as is noted in
the Article 41 of Directive Principles of State Policy.
 Article 21 ensures a dignified life.
 Section 20 of the Hindu adoption and maintenance act, 1956, makes it an obligatory
provision to maintain an aged parent.
 Maintenance of Parents is included in section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code.
 The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, seeks to make it
legal for the children or heirs to maintain their parents or senior citizens of the family. The bill
defines children as sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. Parents are the biological,
adoptive or step-parents.
 The United Nations Principles for Older Persons adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly in 1991.
 Economic Help: Pensions, Bank Interest
 National Policy for Older Persons
 National Old Age Pension Scheme
 Dr. V Mohini Giri Committee (2011) submitted final draft of National policy on senior citizens
2011. It advised special focus on elderly women and rural poor, and other disadvantaged seniors.
 Reverse Mortgage Scheme
 NGOs
o Help-age India
o Dignity Foundation
Essay on Environment
Quotes on Environment
 Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find. ~Quoted in Times
 Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites.
 We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller
 We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
 There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. ~Marshall McLuhan
 Newspapers are nothing but dead trees with information smeared on them.
 There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. ~Mohandas K.
Gandhi
 For 200 years we've been conquering Nature. Now we're beating it to death.
 When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves.
 Take care of the earth and she will take care of you.
 The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.
~Ross Perot
 Understanding the laws of nature does not mean that we are immune to their operations. ~David
Gerrold
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 Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom - and lakes die. ~Gil Stern
 In an underdeveloped country, don't drink the water; in a developed country, don't breathe the air.
 We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone's arguing over where they're going to
sit.
 A person is either the effect of his environment or is able to have an effect upon his environment.
 Yadrishi Bhavana Yasya; Siddhir Bhavati Tadrishi

Means: Whatever are one's thoughts, so will be the outcome. Our toughts are influenced by our
environment. Hence, we need clean environment.
 Cleanliness is a mark of self-respect.
 The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our fore fathers but on loan
from our children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us. - Mahatma
Gandhi
 Indians worship trees. See them as gods. Indian Culture never permits the exploitation of nature
and nature's resources
 India is guided by ancient belief that people and planet are inseparable; that human well-being and
nature are indivisible
 AtharvaVeda calls it a bounden duty that we must protect the earth so that life can be sustained
 Current culture - "Throw away Culture"
 Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.
 Only 10% of energy in a light bulb is used to create light. Ninety percent of a light bulb’s energy
creates heat.
Fodder for Environment
The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth. - Marlee Matlin
Environment consists of both living and non-living things that surround us. There is a relationship between
living beings and the environment.
There is no doubt for the fact that man is an intelligent animal. Man is able to influence environment with
his activities. The effects of man’s activities on environment have been both positive and negative. Human-
beings are most powerful and intelligent among all living creatures. Thus, it is the responsibility of every
human-being to protect and save the environment, so that the future generation may enjoy the gifts of
nature and environment.
Environment in past:
 The ancient civilizations had connect to nature: started worshipping nature (wind, rain etc) fearing
natural disasters.
 Vedas have recognized the importance of maintenance of the Season’s cycle.
 The History has passed us the environment in a beautiful state, we should pass it to the future
generations in the same pristine beauty.
Environment and Geography
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 Environmental geography represents a critically important set of analytical tools for assessing the
impact of human presence on the environment by measuring the result of human activity on natural
landforms and cycles.
 Pollution is particularly severe in places such as India and China, where greater levels of economic
development contribute to higher pollution levels.
 Switzerland leads the world in sustainability, followed by France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden in
the EPI, which found that air quality is the leading environmental threat to public health.
 In India: Rural and Urban areas have different environmental status.
 Coastal areas are relatively better due to geographical phenomena.
Environment and Society:
 Understanding the reciprocal relationships between social and environmental processes.
 Interactions between human society and the environment are constantly changing.
 There will always be trade-offs and, many times, unanticipated or unintended consequences.
 A well-managed environment can provide goods and services that are both essential for our well-
being as well as for continued economic prosperity.
 Environment has association with the gender and age groups.
 Global warming will cause grave dangers to the vulnerable sections.
 Populations increases cause over-exploitation of land and water resources and loss of biodiversity
and forests and will therefore endanger sustainability of agriculture and food security.
Environment and Development

 The conflict between economic growth and environment is sharper today than ever before,
particularly in developing countries like India with fast growing population and mass poverty.
 In India, as in other developing countries, the adoption of development strategy based primarily on
large-scale industrialization, energy-intensive technologies and biochemical-based agricultural
technology, ignoring indigenous development paradigm based on locally self-sufficient technologies,
has led to environmental degradation.
 The 2030 agenda intertwines goals for human development and environmental protection.
 Think of Environment and development as one sector.
 Support Social Entrepreneurs
 Joint Development
 Climate change and development
Legal Provisions:
 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their
Disposal
 Convention of Biological Diversity
 Biosafety Protocol (Cartagena Protocol)
 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses
 Framework Convention on Climate Change
 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)
 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
 Law of the Sea (LOS)
 Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
 Ozone Treaties
 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS)
 The Constitution under Part IVA (Art 51A-Fundamental Duties) casts a duty on every citizen
of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife,
and to have compassion for living creatures.
Science and Environment

 The impact of technology on the environment has in many ways been devastating
 Modern technology has given humanity unheard power to manipulate earth, air, fire and water
 The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction also poses a serious threat to the biosphere
 Science can also be the panacea for development: For instance, technological development related to
Bio-remediation, exploring other planets, making things digital etc.
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Essay on Media
 Whoever controls the media, controls the mind ― Jim Morrison
 The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but
newspapers. ~Thomas Jefferson
Social Media
 The great thing about social media was how it gave a voice to voiceless people. -Jon Ronson
 Social media is reducing social barriers. It connects people on the strength of human values, not
identities. - Narendra Modi
 The Internet is becoming the town square for the Global village of tomorrow. - Bill Gates
Essay on Panchayati Raj
Quotes on Panchayati Raj
 The best, quickest and most efficient way is to build up from the bottom. Every village has to
become a self-sufficient republic. This does not require brave resolutions. It requires brave,
corporate, intelligent work.
 When the panchayat raj is established, public opinion will do what violence can never do. —
Mahatma Gandhi
Data on Panchayati Raj
India now has constitutionally mandated 232,332 village Panchayats, 6,000 intermediate Panchayats and
534 Zilla Panchayats. The three tiers of these elected bodies consist of as many as 27,75,858 village
Panchayat members, 1,44,491 members of the intermediate Panchayat and 15,067 members of the district
Panchayat.
Women head about 175 District Panchayats, more than 2,000 Block Panchayats and about 85,000 Gram
Panchayats. The southern states are doing better in promoting women leadership compared to the northern
states. Along with the Southern States West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh also have more than 33 per cent
women heads.
Government has accepted, in toto, the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission for providing
grants to the tune of Rs 2,00,292 crore between 2015 and 2020 to gram panchayats (GPs) directly, and also
released the allocations to rural local bodies this year. It needs to be noted that the grants awarded by the
NDA are three times higher than the earlier period, that is, between 2010 and 2015.
In a study conducted by the ministry of panchayati raj in 2014-15 on the Panchayat Devolution Index, which
looked at the devolution of powers to panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) in terms of the three Fs, Kerala
topped the list in all parameters except funds while Karnataka was best in transferring funds to PRIs.
Though Sikkim did well in transferring functions, it was low on other parameters.
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Essay on Peace
 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.
 The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. - Martin Luther King Jr.
 Yatho Dharma Thatho Jayaha

(Where there is justice, there is victory. )
 Only plough on the shoulders and not the guns can bring development. There is no future for
violence. The future is only of peaceful means. PM Modi
Essay on Poverty
Quotes on Poverty
 Poverty is the worst form of violence - Gandhi
 Best way to help poor is not to be one of them - Carnegie Mellon
 Poor's basic mobility is from village to urban slums
 Poverty or Arm race:
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 law barks at all but bites only the poor, the powerless, the illiterate, the ignorant. Justice
Krishna Iyer on Social Justice
 Mahatama Gandhi always insisted that India would be truly independent only when the poorest
of its people become free of human suffering.
 Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year. -
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
 There are people in the world, so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of
bread. - Mahatma Gandhi
 Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. -Mark Twain
 Poverty is like a punishment for a crime you didn’t commit. -Eli Khamarov
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 Poverty is not just a lack of money; it is not having the capability to realize one's full potential as a
human being . -Amartya Sen
Examples on Poverty
 Irony
o On one hand, Antilla, one of the world's most expensive residential properties is in Mumbai.
While, Dharavi, Asia's largest slum is stone's throw away.
 World's richest 1% population own 44% of worlds' wealth.
Essay on S&T
Quotes on S&T
 I don’t know in what weapons the world war three will be fought, but forth world war will be fought
only through sticks and stones – Albert Einstein.
(Written in context of nuclear weapons. He meant that 3rd WW will destroy everything)
 Science is an elixir of development, an enzyme of hope
 One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one
extraordinary man. - Elbert Hubbard
 Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for wrong reasons - R. Buckminster Fuller
 Human spirit must prevail over technology - Albert Einstein
 The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that man will begin to think
like computers - Sydney Harris
 Science without religion is lame, religion w/o science is blind - Albert Einstein
 All thinking men are atheists. - Ernest Hemingway
 The notion that Science and Spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both. -
Carl Sagan
 What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. - Christopher
Hitchens
 Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. -
Martin Luther King
 The Science of today is the technology of tomorrow – Edward Teller
 It All started with a Question, a curiosity, the How and Why of everything.
 I fear the day when technology will suppress human interaction and the world will have a
generation of idiots. - Albert Einstein
(Very apt today in the era of whatsapp / FB / Insta)
 It is dangerously destabilizing to have half the world on the cutting edge of technology while the
other half struggles on the bare edge of survival. - Bill Clinton
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 All the sciences are for this one end, to bring happiness to humanity. - Swami Vivekananda
Fodder for S&T
Science is curiosity in thoughtful action about the world and how it behaves. Science is the study of the
physical and natural world through observations and experiments.
Science is all around us.
Technology is the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes or applications, whether in industry or
in our everyday lives
History:
 History can be traced to the works
of Ancient Egyptians and IAS4Sure MCQ Factory
Mesopotamians
 Indus Valley Civilisation: Earliest  Topicwise Arranged UPSC MCQs
traces of mathematical knowledge.
 Vedas mention astronomy
 Medicine: Ayurveda, Cataract  Weekly Current based MCQs
surgery
 Arthashastra Mentions  Accessible on mobile too
construction of dams and bridges
 Invention of wheel  Read more at www.ias4sure.com
 Laws of motion, Thomas Edison’s
Bulb, Steam Engine
Science and Society:

 Science has taken the path the society has guided it to.
 During the first half of the 20th century, world wars guided science for wartime applications-
unlocking the mystery of Nuclear Energy
 Science has to offer solutions for the challenges faced by vulnerable sections of the society.
 For instance IOT in washing machines, other appliances allow housewives to easily do many tasks.
 Education becomes accessible, affordable and easily available.
 Health: Science is the only field which will find cure of cancer
 Science dilutes the gender gap problems
 Information technology and data revolution is to set the future of the planet.
 Security of Nation, of vulnerable sections will be enhanced by Science.
Science and Development:

 Globalization: Opened the world for trade
 All sections can participate regardless of distance and status
 Computer and internet have already revolutionized the economic order
 Future jobs, growth, defense, transportation, agriculture, health care and life sciences: directly
related to scientific advancement.
 Better analytical tools
 Artificial Intelligence helping in the complex tasks associated with various fields.
 Big Data: Analysis of information in a better way, statistics development and analysis for Industrial
growth and societal analysis.
 Advancement in Health: Cure for Various diseases, Gene therapy
 Advancement in Agriculture: Bt Cotton, Machineries for farms ( Even women friendly), Krishi
Vigyan Kendras, Extensions of agriculture
Science and Environment:

 It can make or break
 Clean, Green Environment
_______________________________________________________________
 Research in Renewable sources

 Hydrogen Fuel
 Global Warming : Make and break
 Food chain (Micro Plastic)
 Disaster Management
Science and Ethics:

 Ethics of Science: Scientific ethics calls for honesty and integrity in all stages of scientific practice
 Scientists are human, and humans don't always abide by the law.
Essay on Sanitation
 The one thing which we can and must learn from the West is the science of municipal sanitation.
The peoples of the West have evolved a science of corporate sanitation and hygiene from which we
have much to learn. We must modify western methods of sanitation to suit our requirements.
- Young India
 'Cleanliness is next to godliness.' We can no more gain God's blessing with an unclean body than
with an unclean mind. A clean body cannot reside in an unclean city. -Young India
Essay on Urbanization
Urbanization is the inevitable outcome of the processes of growth and the processes of modernization. -
Manmohan Singh
Indeed true! Urbanization, as a phenomenon, is the cause as well as the effect of development and
modernization. This implies that urbanization will have wide ranging impacts on the various sectors of the
society. However, as the adage goes, ‘Progress is impossible without change’. By urbanizing we would
be moving towards progress only if we learn to establish a balance between our villages and the new urban
centres. The rate of urban growth in India is very high as compared to developed countries, and the large
cities are becoming larger mostly due to continuous migration of population to these cities. This creates
enormous pressure on existing urban infrastructure.
History:
The urban culture of the Bronze Age found in Harappa( agricultural production, trade, planned roads; etc)
 Other ancient cities: Athens(Greece), Mesopotamia, Pharoah(Egypt)
 Rapid urbanization post-1800 (industrialization)
 1900s- metropolises (larger industrial cities) surrounded by suburbs
Fodder Points:
 Urbanization is seen as a force behind poverty reduction.
 Push Factors: population pressure, lack of resources in rural areas.
 Pull Factors: better standard of living, health and education.
 Together, India, China and Nigeria will account for 35% of the projected growth of the world’s urban
population between 2018 and 2050.
 The most urbanized regions include
o Northern America (with 82% of its population living in urban areas in 2018)
o Latin America and the Caribbean (81%)
o Europe (74%)
o Oceania (68%)
 The level of urbanization in Asia is now approximating 50%
 Africa remains mostly rural, with 43% of its population living in urban areas.
 U.N. World Urbanization Prospects 2018: About 34% of India's population now lives in urban areas-
an increase of about three percentage points since the 2011 Census.
_______________________________________________________________
Effects of Urbanization:
Positive:
 Creation of employment opportunities (Bangalore, Hyderabad)
 Technological and infrastructural advancements
 Improved transportation and communication
 Quality educational and medical facilities
 Improved standards of living: modernization (Noida, Gurugram)
Negatives:
 Pollution: Health Hazards
 Urban sprawl
 Urban crimes
 Insufficient expansion space for housing and public utilities
 Urban Poverty
 Unemployment
 Overcrowding, Traffic congestion
 Migration
 Slums
 Floods
 Health and Sanitation Problems
Urbanization in India is a slow but sure death for her villages and villagers. -Mahatma Gandhi
In order to harness the economic and social benefits of urbanization, policy-makers must plan for efficient
land-use, match population densities with the required needs for transport, housing and other
infrastructure, and arrange the financing needed for such urban development programs.
Related Government Schemes:

 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Housing for All - Urban)
 Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (National Urban Livelihoods Mission)
 Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)
 HRIDAY : Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
 AMRUT: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
 Smart Cities
Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are
created by everybody. The onus of creating and maintaining the cities for the benefit of all is upon us.
Urban Planning:
 Building sustainable and environmentally friendly cities
 Provision of essential services
 More job creation
 Population control
Urbanization can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable development goals (SDGs), but careful
planning is essential to prevent the growth of slums, pollution and crime that can derail achievements.
Constructive sustainable interventions by government, civil society institutions could result in fruitful
dividends.
Essay on Health
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have ― Winston S. Churchill
Health and healthcare were present since time immemorial. Historical texts are replete with references of
healthcare practices since time immemorial. Health has
always been a matter of utmost importance.
_______________________________________________________________
India’s health workforce is characterised by a diversity of providers delivering services in allopathy and
alternative systems of medicine like ayurveda, homeopathy, unani and siddha.
Part IV of the Constitution of India talks about the Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 47 under
part IV lists the “Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve
public health”.
History:
 Medicine, as it is today, is but the cumulative knowledge gathered since centuries, along with the
evolution of man.
 The ancient medicine dealt with plants, minerals, spirits, stars, voodoo, energy, appeasing to gods,
and more.
 There were priests, herbalists, magicians, sorcerers, and heads who spread their intuitive arms
around the patient to diagnose, cure and heal.
 Indian system of medicine: combination of many concepts such as diet, climate, beliefs,
supernatural, empirical, and culture.
 Yoga does not adhere to any particular religion, belief system or community; it has always been
approached as a technology for inner wellbeing.
Since ancient times, humans have understood the importance of climate and other geographical indicators
to human health.
We have a maxim – “Yatha Annam Tatha Mannam” which means our mental and intellectual
development is directly related to the quality of our food intake. Experts are of the opinion that the better
nutrition a child imbibes in the womb and during childhood, greater is the mental development and he/she
remains healthy. It is equally important that for children to be well nourished, the mother also receives
proper nourishment. And nutrition merely does not only imply what you eat but also how much you eat and
how often you eat. This means whether you are getting essential nutrients. Are you getting Iron, Calcium or
not? Sodium or not? Vitamins or not? All these are very important aspects of Nutrition.
Geography and Spatial pattern:

 Tropical vs Rest of the World:
o connection between the seasons and disease occurrence.
o high burden of pan tropical diseases in Africa.
o Postharvest loss is a leading constraint on food security in Africa.
o Spread of climate- sensitive infectious diseases like cholera, Zika Virus
o Case Study: Ebola outbreak in Congo
 Developed vs Underdeveloped: Obtaining a balance between obesity and malnutrition.
 Health issues in Urban Areas:
o Poor access to healthcare despite physical proximity
o Research and knowledge/information gaps
o Poor community awareness and weak community capacity to demand and access health care
o Poor family support system: especially in case of mental health problems and HIV AIDS
o Poor Environmental Conditions with high population density: diseases caused due to
pollution
o Inadequate public health infrastructure in urban slums
o Drugs, Tobacco and alcohol abuse
o Mental health problems like stress, depression
 Health issues in Rural Areas:
o Health problems due to social stigma further causing social exclusion
o High rate of diseases due to open defecation
o Maternal health
o Sanitation related health issues
Climate Change and Health

 affects social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient
food and secure shelter
 exacerbation of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
_______________________________________________________________
 invariable rainfall causing lack of freshwater

 increase in water- borne diseases and diseases transmitted through insects, snails or other cold-
blooded animals.
Early warning systems and informed climate change adaptation strategies have the potential to enhance
resilience to short-term climate variability and to buffer against negative impacts of climate change.
How science has helped ‘health’?

Positive
 Technology advances
 The use of simple, hand-held molecular diagnostic tools can help unskilled health workers rapidly
and accurately diagnose diseases, thus helping to reduce healthcare costs due to delayed or incorrect
diagnoses
 Post globalisation:
o medical tourism (often combining elective surgery and aspects of Ayurveda),
o health insurance market,
o healthcare infrastructure expansion (including public-private partnerships and training of
healthcare staff),
o the medical equipment market, and
o the pharmaceuticals industry (manufacture, research and clinical trials)
Negative
 research in the field of human health can take years to produce results : even to determine the side
effects
 negative use of science: like pre-natal sex detection
 increased costs
 anti-biotic resistance
Government Schemes and Initiatives:

 National Health Mission: subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health
Mission
 Women Health National Health Programmes:
o Janani Suraksha Yojana;
o Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram;
 National Ayush Mission (NAM);
 National Programme on Prevention and Control of Viral Hepatitis;
 National Programme for the Health Care for the Elderly;
 National Tobacco Control Programme;
Essay on Wisdom
 World suffers more because of Silence of good people than the violence of bad people
 It is easy to give power, it is difficult to give wisdom - Ambedkar
Essay on Women
Quotes on Women
 Women must not accept, she must challenge
 Yatra Naryastu Poojyante, Ramante Tatra Devatah

(Wherever ladies are worshipped, there dances goddesses)
 Country can never be developed without the contribution of other half. - Mahatma Gandhi
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 Educate one man, you educate one person, but educate a woman and you educate a whole
civilisation. - Mahatma Gandhi
 Women alone can emancipate themselves, not men. - Mahatma Gandhi
 Swami Vivekananda says, "Countries and Nations which do not respect women have never
become great nor will ever be in future”
 I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved- B. R.
Ambedkar
 Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right to
participate in the minutest details in the activities of man, and she has equal right to liberty of
freedom and liberty with him. - Gandhi
 To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute
strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then
woman is immeasurably man's superior. - Gandhi in Young India, 1930
 In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth, women are not merely tolerated but
valued. – Aung San Suu Kyi
 If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman. – Margaret
Thatcher
 I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot
succeed when half of us are held back. – Malala Yousafzai
 I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century. – Hillary
Clinton
 Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of
reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance. - Kofi
Annan
 In order to awaken the people, it is the women who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the
family moves, the village moves, the nation moves. - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
 Empower a woman - Empower a community. - Kofi Annan
 When women do better economies do better. - Christine Lagarde
Examples for Women
"It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is
improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly only on one wing”.
History has it! From being active participants in India’s fight against colonialism(Aruna Asaf Ali, Sarojini
Naidu, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay) to reforming the society (Savitribai Phule, Mother Teresa) to
contributing significantly in the field of Science and Technology (Janaki Ammal; Asima Chatterjee; Sarla
Thakral); women have proved to be flag bearers of development in the society. Today’s women has truly
come a long way from the ancient times. She has broken the glass ceiling in many areas. Some of the most
powerful people today are women- to name a few Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Shobhana Bhartia, Indra Nooyi,
and Priyanka Chopra.
_______________________________________________________________
Position of Women in Early Indian Society
The status of women in early Hindu society was an enviable one. They could avail of the highest learning
and there were many seers and philosophers among them. Ghosha, Apala, Lopamudra, Vishwvara, Surya,
Indrani, Yami, Romasha – all these names highlight the position and the esteem which Hindu women
enjoyed in the Vedic period. In a theosophical debate between Shankaracharya and Mandana Mishra, the
latter's wife was appointed to be the judge – obviously because of her superior knowledge and spiritual
attainments.
New Initiative in Uttarakhand:

Identity of the house, in the name of the daughter: Nameplate of house will have daughter's name.
This will generate respect for women
Tessy Thomas – first woman scientist to head a missile project in India. Women in India’s Mars Orbiter
Mission (MOM)
Data for Women
Economic Participation:
 Contribution of women to India's GDP is 18 per cent despite being 27% of the total workforce.
 World Bank data (2012), only 27 percent of adult Indian women had a job, or were actively looking
for one, compared to 79 percent of men.
 Almost 20 million women had dropped out of the workforce between 2005 and 2012.
 India ranks 120 among 131 countries in female labour force participation rates.
 Developing countries like Rwanda has more than 60 per cent women representatives in Parliament
in 2017
 As per UN Women Data, Globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the
same choice of jobs as men.
 Labour force participation rate for women aged 25-54 is 63 per cent compared to 94 per cent for
men.
 The gender wage gap is estimated to be 23 per cent. i.e women earn 77 per cent of what men earn.
 Women are less likely than men to have access to financial institutions or have a bank account.
 Women constitute approximately half of the 258 million migrants who live and work outside their
countries of birth.
Crime against Women
 According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), every day 93 women are being raped in the
country.
 According to NCRB data, there is a gradual increase in the number of rapes reported in India - from
24,923 in 2012 to 33,707 in 2013.
 Crime against women across the country increased by around 10 per cent last year as compared to
previous year with total 3,37,922 cases registered in 2014 against 3,09,546 cases in 2013, according
to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report
 Indian Government statistics also show that an estimated 7000 brides are killed and 18000 are
maimed every year in India over dowry disputes alone.
Domestic Violence
 Among all registered cases of serious crimes against women, the largest share was under "cruelty by
husband and relatives". 36 per cent of all cases were registered under this category says a new
report for the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, titled 'Women and Men in
India - 2015’.
_______________________________________________________________
Fodder for Women
Women in Ancient India

 Starting from the Indus Valley Civilization, women in India have enjoyed relatively high status in
society. The Vedas, Upanishad, Tamil Literature and other scriptures give numerous examples of
women philosophers, politicians, teachers, administrators and saints.
 Gargi, Maitreyi, Avvaiyar: Examples of revered women in ancient India
 The position of women declined in later Vedic period and continues till modern era. But there have
been positive reformation for women, by women.
 Not only in India, women have been harbingers of change throughout the world. Be it the Greece or
the France or even America.
 "The home has, verily, its foundation in the wife" - The Rig Veda
Women in Different Parts

 Women in Developed World Vs Women in under developed & developing world
 Women in South India are relatively better off than women in North India, both socially and
economically.
 Rural – Urban Divide Some
 The North-Eastern states have much better gender scores given their levels of income. On the other
hand, accounting for their levels of income, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Tamil Nadu
perform less well
 Significant heterogeneity amongst the Indian States
Women an Globalisation
Positives: better learning and educational opportunities, feminization of labour force, opportunities for
higher pay, which raises self–confidence, decrease in cultural barriers, medical advancements.
Negatives: technology for sex- selection, increased competition, informalisation of workforce causing
inadequate social security for women, exposure to more risks that cause health hazards implying greater
levels of physical and mental stress, underemployment and temporary work, night work.
Women and S&T

 Women make up only 14% of 2.8 lakh scientists, engineers and technologists employed in R&D
institutions.
 Women account for only 20% of ISRO’s total workforce of 14,246, according to a report on the
website Quartz. Since its founding in 1963, India’s space agency has had nine chairpersons, and
none of them was a woman.
 Department of Science And Technology (DST) launched DISHA Programme
 “KIRAN (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing)”: providing
budgetary support for creating Women Technology Park (WTP)
 Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in women universities (CURIE)
 One of the most talked about images from India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was that of women
scientists in ISRO celebrating the success of the mission.
Legal Provision for Women
Constitutional provisions:
 Article 14, 15 (i), 15 (3), 16, 39(a) , 39(d), 42 , 46, 47, 51(A) (e), 243(D) (3), 243(T)(3), 243(T)(4)
 Legal provisions:
o The Family Courts Act, 1954 ;
o The Special Marriage Act, 1954;
o The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 ;
o The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 with amendment in 2005 ;
o Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 ;
o The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 1995);
o Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961;
o The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971;
o The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1976;
o The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976;
_______________________________________________________________
o Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986;

o Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987;
o The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005;
o The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
 The Crimes Identified Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC):
o Sec. 376 IPC
o Kidnapping & Abduction for different purposes ( Sec. 363-373)
o Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC)
o Torture, both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC) 5. Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC)
o Sexual Harassment (Sec. 509 IPC)
o Importation of girls (up to 21 years of age)
 National Commission for Women
 International Safeguards for Women:
o The United Nations has a long history of addressing women’s human rights and much
progress has been made in securing women’s rights across the world in recent decades.
o Vienna Declaration And Programme Of Action
o International Conference On Population And Development
o Beijing Declaration And Platform For Action
o Millennium Development Goals
o The Commission On The Status Of Women
o Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
Essay on Youth
 Youths are the pillars of nation building. It is in their hands lies the power to change the destiny.
Any country that strives to change its destiny, must have ways and means to tap the energy and
ambitions of this wonderful resource.
 We can not always build future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. - Franklin
Roosevelt
 Now India is seen as land of charming brain than as land of snake charmers as before.
 Any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left
behind. - Kofi Annan
 Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be
key agents for development and peace. - Kofi Annan
 While students are just 40% of our population, they are 100% of our future!
Quotes / Punchlines by PM / President / SC
Fodder from Mann ki Baat
 Gujarat saw devastating floods recently. Many people lost their lives. When the waters receded,
there was so much filth everywhere. That is when, in Dhanera in the Banaskantha District of
Gujarat, volunteers of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind cleaned twenty-two affected temples and two mosques
in a phased manner. They came together and toiled collectively. The volunteers of Jamiat-Ulema-e-
Hindset a fine, inspiring example of unity for cleanliness.
 The great scientist Albert Einstein said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative
expression and knowledge.” The most important quality of a teacher, is to awaken in his students, a
sense of creativity and the joy of learning.
 Teach to Transform,
_______________________________________________________________
Educate to Empower,
Learn to Lead.
 Shakespeare in his play, “The Merchant of Venice”, while explaining the importance of
forgiveness, has written, “Mercy is twice blest, It blesseth him that gives and him that
takes,” meaning, the forgiver and the forgiven both stand to receive divine blessing.
 The slogan, ‘Quit India’ was coined by Dr. Yusuf Meher Ali.
 Government E-Marketplace – GEM: example of Minimum Government and Maximum

Governance, and it’s objective is Minimum Price and Maximum Ease, Efficiency and Transparency
 Constructive criticism strengthens democracy; for an aware nation, an awakened nation, this
churning is very important.
 Under the aegis of ‘Swachch Bharat Campaign’, the Riyasi Block in Jammu and Kashmir has
become completely free of open defecation. this movement found maximum leadership amidst
women. The women of that area took out torch rallies to spread awareness, went from house to
house, street to street and inspired the people towards this goal. (Can be written in women
participation, women's movement)
 Versova Residence volunteer or VRV: A gentleman called Afroz Shah started this mission from
October, 2015 whole heartedly with all his might, slowly people started joining his bandwagon and
turned into a people’s movement. For this outstanding work, United Nations Environment
Programme or UNEP awarded ‘Champion of the Earth’ Award to Sh. Afroz Shah, and thus he has
become the first Indian to achieve this distinction. Versova beach in Mumbai, which was infamous
for its filth has now transformed into a a clean and beautiful beach. People toiled for about 80-90
weeks, unceasingly and turned Versova beach around by extracting thousand of tonnes of waste
materials and today Versova beach is clean and beautiful. (Can be written in Peoples movement,
people participation)
 There are many places where ‘Roti Banks’ are operating. In the Roti Banks, the leftover rotis are
deposited by people, they also deposit the leftover vegetables and the needy can obtain food from
these banks. The person who donates rotis feels a sense of satisfaction also, the recipient also does
not feel humiliated. These are examples of how work can be achieved with the help of society.
 Jagat Guru Basaveshwar laid down his profound thoughts on labour & workers. He had mentioned
in Kannada “Kaay Kave Kailas”… it means, it is just through your perseverance that you can
obtain Kailash, the abode of Shiva. This means, it is only endeavour or Karma that leads you to
attain Swarga, or heaven. In other words, labour, hard work is Shiva. I repeatedly mention
‘Shrameva Jayate’, and Dignity of Labour. I distinctly remember the words of Shriman Dattopant
Thengdi, the founder of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the thinker, who deliberated a lot on the working
class. He used to remark, on the one hand, inspired by Maoism, ‘Workers of the world unite’, on
the other he would say, workers, come, unite the world. Today when I refer to workers, it is but
natural to remember Dattopant Thengdi.
 Sarvyajan Hitaay, Sarvajan Sukhaay’ i.e. for the benefit of all, for the happiness of all
 This desire of 125 crore countrymen for change, the effort to change, is what will lay a strong
foundation of a ‘New India’. ‘New India’ is neither a government programme, nor is it the
manifesto of a political party, nor is it a project. ‘New India’ is the clarion call of 125 crore
countrymen. It is the essence of the emotions of the 125 crore Indians wanting to come together and
create a magnificent India. 125 crore Indians nurture a hope, a zeal, a resolve, a desire.
One story that inspires us is the story of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. He is a brilliant guy
who did not have the best formal education. But he had one math textbook and that was enough for him to
basically recreate all of modern mathematics. The question that we have to ask ourselves is what would
have happened if he had access to the whole Internet? How many Ramanujans are there who don’t even
_______________________________________________________________
have access to the book and if you give them access to the Internet, would they not be able to make their
own lives but also make great contributions to the world overall?
Supreme Court Quotes
 Deprivation of liberty even for a single day is one day too many.
o Can be used in topics like Judicial Delays, Denial of Bail, Undertrials etc
PM Quotes
 Digital India has become a way of life : PM
 PM asks the nation to embrace ‘Bharat jodo’ slogan and reject ‘chaltha hai’ attitude
 In the Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi drafted out the extensive outlines
of a “New India” that will be independent of communalism, casteism, terrorism, corruption and
nepotism.
 The period between 1942-47 was a key one for India’s struggle for independence so should the
period of 2017-22 be for creating a “New India” with the same collective will, says PM Modi. (You
can change time from 2020-25/30)
 The Prime Minister urged the present generation, the youth of the 21st century, to move forward
with a Clean Slate. Clean Slate and Clean Heart means clear intentions.
o This quote can be used anywhere like in topics related to IR, conflict resolution, suggesting
anything radical on any topic.
 It's not that successful people don't have problems, but the one who accepts challenges, confronts
them, defeats them, solves problems, only succeeds. Those who take on challenges, later succeed in
life. Youth of the 1922-47 period sacrificed everything for freedom.
o This can be used when you are suggesting something difficult to implement on topics like
fighting poverty, resolving naxalism
Independence Day Speech
 Our scriptures said something very profound. It is said in our scriptures that- 'Samarthya mulam
Swatantryam, Shram mulam Vaibhavam' means 'Capability is the source of freedom, and
labour force is the source of grandeur, prosperity and progress of any nation.
Therefore, nothing can match the hard work of the common man, be it cities or villages. When a
toiling society gets amenities, the struggles of life ease, everyday troubles are reduced and this helps
in boosting their energy paying rich dividends.
India has always followed the adage - ‘Whole world is one family’. Veda says वसुधैव
कुटु कम् And Vinoba ji used to say ‘जय जगत’ i.e. hail the world. Therefore, the world is one
family for us. So, alongside financial development, mankind and humanity should also get
importance.
 If you want to show positive things about government:

Who could have imagined that lakhs and crores of money would be directly transferred to the
Jan-Dhan accounts of the poor? Who could have imagined that so many changes would be made in
the APMC Act for the welfare of farmers? Who could have thought that the farmers who were living
under the Damocles’ sword of the Essential Commodities Act, would be freed of it after so many
years? Could we have imagined that the space sector would be laid open for the youth of our nation?
Today we are witnessing that National Education Policy, One Nation-One Ration Card, One Nation-
One Grid, One Nation-One Tax, Insolvency and Bank Bankruptcy Code and the effort for merger of
banks- all these things have become the reality of nation, fact for our nation.
_______________________________________________________________
 Full Text of PM Speech : https://news.abplive.com/news/india/independence-day-2020-full-

text-of-pm-modis-speech-to-nation-from-the-ramparts-of-red-fort-1313291
President Quotes
 The ethos of our freedom struggle forms the foundation of modern India. Our visionary leaders
brought together a diversity of world views to forge a common national spirit. They were committed
to the cause of liberating Bharat Mata from oppressive foreign rule and securing the future of her
children. Their thoughts and actions shaped the identity of India as a modern nation.
 It has been the tradition of India that we do not just live for ourselves, but work for the well-being of
the entire world. India's self-reliance means being self-sufficient without alienating or creating
distance from the world. It implies that India will continue to engage with the world economy while
maintaining its identity.

 'Human-centric collaboration' is more important than 'economy-centric inclusion'.
 The twenty-first century should be remembered as the century when humanity put aside differences
and collaborated to save the planet.
 We are all equal before Mother Nature and we primarily depend on our fellow residents for survival
and growth. Coronavirus does not recognize any artificial divisions created by human society. This
reinforces the belief that we need to rise above all man-made differences, prejudices, and barriers.
Compassion and mutual help have been adopted as basic values by the people in India. We need to
further strengthen this virtue in our conduct. Only then can we create a better future for all of us.
 When India won freedom, many predicted that our experiment with democracy will not last long.
They saw our ancient traditions and rich diversity as hurdles in democratization of our polity. But
we have always nurtured them as our strengths that make the largest democracy in the world so
vibrant. India has to continue playing its leading role for the betterment of humanity.
You can read full text here https://presidentofindia.nic.in/speeches-detail.htm?814.

Good points included for:
 Lessons learnt during COVID
 New Education Policy
_______________________________________________________________
Random
Acronyms
 3D : Debate, Discuss and Dialogue
 3E : Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness
 6E : Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Equity, Empowerment and Environment
 3D : Democracy, Demography and Demand - Modi's famous acronym for India's potential in near
future.
Are we humans?
CARE-LESS: The parents of seven-year-old Avinash Rout were turned away by the best hospitals in the
capital and, by the time they admitted the child to Batra Hospital, he was close to cardiovascular failure.
Devastated at having failed to protect their child, his parents killed themselves after performing his last
rites. Similar tragedies play out every day in hospitals across the country. Patients and their families are so
inured to it that comment seems redundant. The case of Avinash Rout, too, would have gone unnoticed but
for the suicide of his parents.
Catchy Phrases
These phrases can be used anywhere. They will make the language more soothing and interesting to read.
 A vision long cherished
 Held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surround us.
 Bear the imprints in their hearts
 Justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream
 Poor are protected, minorities respected and none go to bed fearing tomorrow
 The future has to be built on the foundations laid in the past and the present.
 This idea reverberates in my soul with every breath I take and every move I make.
 Progressive, inclusive, prosperous, equitable and humane society
 Love for young, respect for elders and empathy for others
Net Neutrality and Freedom of speech
Freedom of Speech
The protagonist of the Hollywood film The American President says, “America isn’t easy… It’s gonna
say ‘You want free speech?’ Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil… You want
to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol
also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.” Or take the case of The
Queen, which was an unflattering portrait of the British royal family in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s
death. There was nary a protest from any quarter, or demands to ban the film, despite the story being about
people who were still alive. In contrast, in India, even long-dead figures seem to be beyond the hands of
artists. Apparently, they belong only to politicians.
_______________________________________________________________
Net Neutrality
We here also believe in Net neutrality very strongly. So if someone wants to access some service and the
operator wants to charge more money to do so, then that’s bad and it isn’t a fair thing and it is a big issue.
But at the same time, when you have a student in a classroom looking up for information for free to do her
homework, it is hard to see why there is an issue with that.
Rule of Law
 When John Adams used the historic phrase, “a government of laws and not of men”, what
was emphasised was that law and not whimsicality or caprice should govern the conduct and affairs
of people.
 Another basic tenet of rule of law as articulated by Thomas Fuller and adopted by the courts is “Be
you ever so high the law is above you”. Therefore, no one, be he the prime minister, speaker,
imam, archbishop, sankaracharya, judge or whoever, can claim immunity from the law.
 The true foundation on which rule of law can rest is its willing acceptance by people so that it
becomes part of their own way of life. Therefore, we should strive to instil the rule of law
temperament and culture at home and in educational institutions. The aim should be that rule of
law becomes the secular religion of all nations based on tolerance and mutual respect.
Some Random Thoughts
 As far back as fifth century BC, Plato and Aristotle discussed with their students whether monarchy
or democracy was better. In modern times, Rousseau first argued for freedom as a fundamental
right of humankind. Karl Marx argued that equality was as crucial as freedom. Closer home, Gandhi
discussed the meaning of genuine freedom or swaraj in his book Hind Swaraj. Ambedkar
vigorously argued that the scheduled castes must be considered a minority, and as such, must
receive special protection. These ideas find their place in the Indian Constitution; our preamble
enshrines freedom and equality; the rights chapter abolishes untouchability in any form; Gandhian
principles find a place in Directive Principles.
 The autobiography of one of the greatest persons of the twentieth century, Nelson Mandela, is titled
Long Walk to Freedom. In this book he talks about his personal struggle against the apartheid
regime in South Africa, about the resistance of his people to the segregationist policies of the white
regime, about the humiliations, hardships and police brutalities suffered by the black people of
South Africa. These ranged from being bundled into townships and being denied easy movement
about the country, to being denied a free choice of whom to marry. Collectively, such measures
constituted a body of constraints imposed by the apartheid regime that discriminated between
citizens based on their race. For Mandela and his colleagues it was the struggle against such unjust
constraints, the struggle to remove the obstacles to the freedom of all the people of South Africa (not
just the black or the coloured but also the white people), that was the Long Walk to Freedom.
 Gandhiji’s thoughts on non-violence have been a source of inspiration for Aung San Suu Kyi and in
her book Freedom from Fear. She says, “for me real freedom is freedom from fear and unless you
can live free from fear you cannot live a dignified human life”. We must not, her words suggest, be
afraid of the opinions of other people, or of the attitude of authority, or of the reactions of the
members of our community to the things we want to do, of the ridicule of our peers, or of speaking
our mind. Yet we find that we often exhibit such fear. For Aung San Suu Kyi living a ‘dignified
human life’ requires us to be able to overcome such fear.
 Voltaire’s statement — ‘I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to death your right to say it’.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental value and for that society must be willing to bear some
inconvenience to protect it from people who want to restrict it.
30
_______________________________________________________________
 Gandhi’s “answer to doubt”, given around Independence Day in 1947 — also known as the
“talisman” — is deservedly famed. In that short text, Gandhi suggested that our uncertainty over the
right course to take would disappear once we ask how the most helpless person we have known
would be affected by our choice.
 Yet, along with equality, Gandhi wanted fraternity; along with justice he sought reconciliation.
Demanding justice for Dalits, Gandhi also strove for a partnership between Dalits and upper-caste
Hindus. He wanted India’s Hindu majority to protect the country’s minorities, but he also wanted
Hindu-Muslim friendship, and he asked Pakistan’s Muslim majority to protect that country’s
Hindus, Christians and minority-sect Muslims.
 “The theory that ‘development’ entails ‘costs’ and that this is a ‘sacrifice’ that some must accept in
order that others might benefit must be recognised to be disingenuous and sanctimonious; it must
be firmly abandoned. Pain and hardship imposed by some on others cannot be described as a
sacrifice by the latter…‘Stakeholder consultation’ is another misleading and sanctimonious
formulation. Both the beneficiaries of big projects (farmers receiving irrigation in the command area,
industries and cities getting electricity, etc.) and those lands, livelihoods, and centuries-old access to
the natural resource base are being taken away are lumped together as ‘stakeholders’ who must be
consulted. In truth, the beneficiaries are stake-gainers whereas the project-affected groups are
stake-losers, and the primacy of the latter over the former needs to be recognised…”
 "All men are created equal" - Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence
Everything on move
MOVE - Introduction/Conclusion of ESSAY
Our ECONOMY is on the Move: We are the world’s fastest growing major economy.
Our CITIES & TOWNS are on the Move: We are building one hundred smart cities.
Our INFRASTRUCTURE is on the Move: We are building roads, airports, rail lines and ports at a
quick pace.
Our GOODS are on the Move: The Goods and Services Tax has helped us rationalize supply chains and
warehouse networks.
Our REFORMS are on the Move: We have made India an easier place to do business.
Our LIVES are on the Move: Families are getting homes, toilets, smoke-free LPG cylinders, bank
accounts and loans.
Our YOUTH are on the Move: We are fast emerging as the start-up hub of the world. India is moving
ahead with new energy, urgency and purpose.
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Let's keep it short.

Indian Democracy, society, culture, mindset

8. Preparedness of our society for India’s global leadership role. -2010

Quote based, Philosophy, Ethics Based

Polity, administration, Media and Panchayati Raj Related topics

Science-Technology Based Essay

Women empowerment, Issue based Essay

What makes an essay good?

 India as a nation in real sense had to be created.

 It is easy to give power, it is difficult to give wisdom.

 Gandhi Ji famously said, "There

 Noble Goals can be achieved

o While writing on mechanisation, capitalism etc.

 Women alone can emancipate themselves, not men.

 An ideal is one thing; living up to it is quite another.

 To conceal ignorance is to increase it.

 Only the brave can be forgiving.

 More people die of fear of death than by actual death.

 More people die of the fear of disease than of disease himself.

 Better to die once than to die daily.

 He who is afraid of people's censure will never be able to do anything worthwhile.

 Education that does not mould the character is absolutely worthless.

 Gandhiji enumerated Seven Social Sins, which are -

 If you take care of today, God will take care of tomorrow.

 A man is but the product of his thoughts.

 Scriptures cannot transcend reason and truth.

 Opposition makes the man.

 Life is an endless series of experiments.

 Life spent in service is the only fruitful life.

 He who want to please all, will please none.

 An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

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 Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary

 Hate the sin, love the sinner.

 You must be the change you want to see in the world.

 Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.

 The future depends on what we do in the present.

 We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough

Innovative/ Creative/ Catchy

 "Food for every mouth,

 "Men is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains" Jean Jacques Rousseau

 Peace begins with a smile

 Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person

 If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.

 If you judge people, you have no time to love them

 Everything else can wait but agriculture can not

 Whoever controls media actually controls mind and politics.

 SAR ZAMIN-E-HIND PAR AQWAM-E-ALAM KE FIRAQUE

 People with clenched fists cannot shake hands - Indira Gandhi

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 Courage is like a muscle, we strengthen it with use.

 Freedom and power brings responsibility.

 Aims should be to wipe every team from every eye.

 One should work hard to give reality to our dreams.

 Let's arise, awake and stop not

 Freedom is a celebration, independence is a challenge.

 Stay Hungry; Stay Foolish. - Steve Jobs