UPSC Mains Daily Answer Writing - 14 August (GS 1)


Questions

  1. Denotified tribes are those tribes which were notified as criminals. Being the most vulnerable social groups, list the historical discriminations they have encountered. (Answer in 150 words) (10)
  2. Global climate change patterns are very much determined by changes in Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets. Give a brief account on how melting of Arctic and Antarctic differ from each other. (Answer in 250 words) (15)

Model Solutions

1. Denotified tribes are those tribes which were notified as criminals. Being the most vulnerable social groups, list the historical discriminations they have encountered. (10 Marks)

Introduction

  • British government in 1871 through an act labeled denotified tribes as born criminals because they were alleged repeat offenders.

Main body

They continue to face discrimination due to many factors like -

  • For unabated exploitation of resources, the British government enacted the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 to control these tribes and labeled them as criminals.
  • As a result of this act, even the society ostracized them making them stigmatized and difficult for them to progress.
  • Majority of them are nomadic living remotely in inhospitable terrain with few educational and health services.
  • With scattered population into small tribal groups, their political clout is nil and goes unnoticed in policy making.
  • As per classification criteria, they do not fall into SC or ST categories, thus cant take advantage of reservations.
  • Society advances when it comes into contact with other advanced societies. But due to the presence of these tribes in inaccessible areas, it is difficult for them to integrate with society making them more vulnerable.

Conclusion

  • There is an urgent need to make provisions for betterment of these tribes. Like Eklavya residential schools and works of trifed for STs, similar provisions need to be made for these denotified tribes also.

2. Global climate change patterns are very much determined by changes in Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets. Give a brief account on how melting of Arctic and Antarctic differ from each other. (15 Marks)

Model Structure

Introduction

  • Climate change owes its genesis to the industrial revolution and the release of greenhouse gasses which resulted in elevated temperatures. The result is rapidly melting glaciers retreating on the land surface.

Main body

  • As per International Polar Year, 95% of the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has already melted. Melting of Arctic and Antarctic differ from each other because
  Arctic
Antarctic
  • More land area in the northern hemisphere thus more heat concentration compared to the southern hemisphere which gets less affected.

 
  • Destruction due to sea level rise is less pronounced.
  • Rise in sea level and warming of oceans will further impact salinity, currents and precipitation patterns more in the Arctic than Antarctic.

 
  • 25% of global sea-level rise is contributed by Antarctic ice sheets.
  • More damage to coastal communities and biodiversity as decrease in salinity will increase intensity and frequency of cyclones.

 

 
  • Warming of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current can further magnify climate change impact as it circumnavigates along the latitudes.

 
  • Polar vortexes amplify heat waves, and severity of weather due to melting of ice will surely affect crops and food security.

 
  • Polar vortex in Antarctic affects monsoons.

Conclusion

  • It is high time that climate change mitigation strategies are taken seriously with consistency and all countries must be on board. As per estimate, if greenhouse gasses increase at current pace, the Arctic will see complete melting of ice by 2040. So to avoid such an irreversible situation, measures like renewable energy, e vehicles, public transport etc needs to be focused.

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