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UPSC MAINS ESSENTIALS - ANSWER WRITING PRACTICE (03/01/2025)

UPSC MAINS ESSENTIALS 

 
 
Exclusive for Subscribers Daily: Need for India's National Security Doctrine and Safety Concerns in Indian Railways for the UPSC Exam? Discover more insights in the UPSC Exam Notes for January 03, 2025

UPSC Exam Notes presents a dedicated initiative to help you excel in Mains answer writing practice. This program covers both static and dynamic components of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus across various General Studies (GS) papers. Each session is crafted to provide valuable insights and techniques to improve your answer-writing skills, aiming to enrich your preparation for the UPSC CSE Mains. Start with today’s answer-writing exercise based on GS-2 topics to evaluate and track your progress.

🚨 Additionally, UPSC Exam Notes releases its November issue of the monthly magazine, packed with critical content, expert analyses, and recent updates to assist your preparation. Dive into the issue to enhance your knowledge base. We welcome your feedback and insights in the comments or via email. 🚨

UPSC Exam Notes offers guidance on structuring Mains answers effectively to maximize your score and presentation.

Introduction

  • Begin your answer with a concise introduction of 3-5 lines. Avoid one-liner introductions as they often lack context.
  • Start by providing basic information, definitions, or key facts from trusted sources to set the foundation for your answer.

Body

  • This is the core of your answer. Analyze the question carefully to understand its requirements and address each aspect fully.
  • Use a mix of points and short paragraphs for clarity. Avoid long paragraphs or purely point-based responses, as balanced formatting enhances readability.
  • Incorporate data from reliable sources, such as government publications, to strengthen your arguments and make your answer more credible.
  • Analyze based on the question’s demand, but avoid over-analysis, which may dilute the answer’s impact.
  • Highlight key terms by underlining, helping your response stand out and improving its presentation.
  • Use flowcharts or tree diagrams where relevant to organize information efficiently, saving time and boosting clarity. These should be applied thoughtfully and only when they add real value.

Way Forward/Conclusion

  • Conclude on a positive, forward-looking note. Highlight potential solutions or the broader implications of your analysis.
  • If an unresolved issue is crucial to the topic, briefly mention it, but avoid repeating points from the introduction or body.
  • Where applicable, reference findings from relevant national or international reports, surveys, or quotations to add weight to your conclusion.

Self-Evaluation

This is a crucial step in answer-writing practice. UPSC Exam Notes provides evaluation guidelines to help you critically assess your responses and refine your thought process for future improvement.
 
Question 1.Evaluate the reasons India needs a clearly articulated National Security Doctrine in the context of today's geopolitical landscape.
 

Model Answer (Approach Outline):

This is not a definitive model answer but an approach to tackling the question effectively.

Introduction
A National Security Strategy (NSS) document serves to define a nation's security objectives and the strategies to achieve them. It identifies both traditional and non-traditional threats and opportunities while assigning responsibilities to the relevant entities tasked with these duties.
An NSS acts as a roadmap for military and defense reforms with strategic significance, offering a holistic view of national security challenges and solutions to address them. Typically, a doctrine precedes a strategy. While doctrine establishes guiding principles for behavior, strategy evolves as a plan of action based on those principles.

Body

Why India Needs a National Security Doctrine
A well-structured National Security Strategy (NSS) would help unify national efforts and foster collaboration to harness Comprehensive National Power (CNP).
It would also set clear benchmarks for progress in areas like modernization, infrastructure, and initiatives such as the Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission.
Currently, India’s defense planning is in flux. The traditional formats of defense planning, such as the Five-Year Defence Plans and 15-Year Long-Term Perspective Plans, have been discontinued. Meanwhile, the new formats


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