Thursday, May 10, 2012

UPSC Interview:- Aayush Oak (IAS) Part II



Member 1:
 can you name any glaciers in the western Himalayas?

Me: yes . . . some of them are siachin, baltoro, baifo etc.

Member 1: yes . . .siachin is more of a region . . .

Me: sir, hispar also. . .

Member 1: why are the Himalayan glaciers in news now a days?

Me: there are two reasons for that. One, there was a report that they are melting due to global warming and two; human interference has led to pollution.

Member 1: what will be its impact?

Me: all the major north Indian rivers have their sources in these glaciers. . .so once they recede the volume of water carried by these rivers will be very less and this will have a huge impact on life, moreover the intensity and frequency of natural hazards will also in crease in these areas.

Member 1: yes, but, why do we need them. It will snow and rain every year in that regions and it will be sufficient to provide water to these rivers.

Me: (no answer)

Member 1: have heard about Kyoto protocol?

Me: yes sir, it puts an obligation on developed countries to reduce their carbon emissions to a certain level by 2012 and help developing countries to develop environmentally friendly technology and to invest in them. The developing countries will have no binding targets to meet. There is a provision where technologies reducing carbon emissions in developing countries will give them carbon credits which can be sold to developed countries. This is called the clean development mechanism.

Member 1: what will the carbon credits do?

Me: the carbon credits will be considered as reduction in carbon emissions to meet their targets.

Member 1: do you know the 73rd constitutional amendment act, what is it about?

Me: yes . . .it is about panchayati raj institutions in India and it has given constitutional status to them.

Member 1: were there PRI’s prior to the 73rd?

Me:yes sir.

Member 1: what is the difference between them?

Me: earlier, every state had its own PRI’s and there was no uniformity.these institutions were powerless,elections to them were not held regularly,most of them were controlled by the elite and the powerfull community though some states did give reservations.

Member 1: what change has the office of the DC undergone after independence?

Me: sir, prior to independence the district collector was incharge of revenue,law and order and judicial functions but after independence the judicial powers have been removed and he is now responsible for developmental functions also because we are noe a welfare state.also now law and order is a joint responsibility of the collector and the superintendent.

Member 1: wasn’t law and order a joint responsibility then also?

Me: yes it was but now his powers are less.the present collectors play the role of cocordinator and facilitator.

Member 1: what will be the role of the future collector? will he be powerfull or no?

Me: we are in a period of transition. . . we want all functions like planning and implementation to be performed by the local bodies but because the collector has the state machinery at his disposal his role will be important but he will not exercise direct authority . . .eventually he must take a backseat.

Member 2: have you heard of warren buffet and bill gates,they were in india. . .

Me: yes. . .they are promoting their philanthropy model.

Member 2: how much has buffet invested in india?

Me: I am not aware of the amount. .

Member 2: doesn’t matter. . .my question is why aren’t Indians doing the same?

Me: I don’t think so . . .some Indians such as tatas and wipro is doing it but we need a lot of improvements.their democracy is more mature,they have had a substantially long period of prosparity whereas Indians have just got rich. . .moreover our culture is such that we have an obligation to save for our children and future generations while there the parents do the basic things like education and them it is upto the children to grow.

All members: smile.

Member 2:why do earthquakes occur ? have you heard about the plate tectonic theory?

Me:earthquakes occur when stress is released from the crust.platetectonic theory says that they occur at plate boundaries when they interact.all landforms are formed due to such plate boundary interactions.

Member 2: does india have volcanoes?

Me: Andaman nicobar islands have a volcano.

Member 2: why are there no volcanoes at other places in india?

Me: volcanoes occur when there is oceanic-continent or oceanic-oceanic collision but in india we have a contininent-continent collision in Himalayas therefore there is no volcano.

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