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Daily Mains Practice Questions 31-01-2023

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January 31, 2023

General Studies - II

Bilateral/International Relations

1. The Indus Water Treaty has stood the test of time, through wars and terrorism but the recent happenings threaten it to become another pressure point in India-Pakistan relations. Analyse. (250 words)

Refer - The Indian Express

 

Health

2. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) continue to disproportionately impact the most impoverished members of the international community. Analyse. (250 words)

Refer - Down to Earth

 

General Studies - III

Economy

3. Wealth inequality in India has been consistently increasing in the recent years. In this context, do you think India should re-introduce the Inheritance Tax? Justify. (150 words)

Refer - Business Standard

 

Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.

3 comments
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sameer 1 year

2

IAS Parliament 1 year

Try to add more content to the answer. Keep Writing.

sameer 1 year

indus water treaty 1

IAS Parliament 1 year

Try to add more content to the answer. Keep Writing.

IAS Parliament 1 year

KEY POINTS

·        The IWT is the only agreement between India and Pakistan that has stood the test of time, through wars and terrorism.

·        Underlying the treaty is the principle that water does not recognise international boundaries and upper riparians have a responsibility to lower riparians.

·        While the treaty does provide for modification “from time to time”, it has to do so by means of “a duly ratified treaty concluded for that purpose between the two Governments”.

·        Given the record though, it is questionable if the two countries today have the political will and the inclination to arrive at an agreement to replace the IWT for the sharing of the waters.

·        On the Pakistani side, accusations are made with increasing frequency that India has “turned off the water”, and on this side, the view is growing that India was been too generous in the IWT.

·        Aftermath of the 2016 Uri attack that “blood and water cannot flow together”, even though how this threat might be implemented is not clear.

·        Using water as a weapon is never a good idea. It would be so much better for both countries to treat the IWT as an instrument for collaboration on climate action in the fragile Himalayan region.


KEY POINTS

·        Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) continue to disproportionately impact the most impoverished members of the international community, living in areas with inadequate water safety.

·        NTDs are a diverse group of 20 conditions mainly prevalent in tropical areas — caused by various pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins.

·        Global report on neglected tropical diseases 2023 report highlighted the advancement and challenges in delivering NTD care worldwide against a backdrop of COVID-19-related disruptions.

·        Despite challenges, some accomplishments were made on this front in 2021-2022.

·        More than one billion people were treated for NTDs annually between 2016 and 2019, thanks to mass treatment initiatives. And in 2021, 25 per cent fewer people needed treatments against NTDs than in 2010.

·        The document also highlighted the tremendous effects COVID-19 had on community-based initiatives, access to healthcare facilities and healthcare goods supply chains.

·        It underscored greater efforts and investments required to reverse delays and accelerate progress towards the NTD road map targets by 2030.

·        WHO have the tools and the know-how not just to save lives and prevent suffering but to free entire communities and countries of these diseases.

·        WHO called on additional partners and funders to step up and close the gaps preventing the full-scale implementation of NTD actions at the international and local levels.


KEY POINTS

·        Proponents of an inheritance or estate tax say it reduces inequality and creates a meritocratic society by chipping away at the enormous advantages the children of the wealthiest families enjoy by an accident of birth.

·        Large inheritances are taxed at 40 per cent in the US and the UK. Germany is at 50 per cent, Japan at 55 per cent and France at 60 per cent.

·        Even Brazil and South Africa levy some form of inheritance or estate tax, but at lower rates.

·        India had a similar tax before abolishing it in 1985, citing low collections compared to the cost of getting the money.

·        Wealth inequality has grown since then. Suppose the country had only a hundred people with Rs 100 in wealth between them. The one richest person would have Rs 33 in his wallet.

·        Less than 0.2 per cent of American estates pay inheritance taxes. It means that such taxes in India may well affect only the super-rich, rather than the average upper-middle-class inheritance.

·        One of the world’s wealthiest people, Warren Buffet, famously says that rich people should only leave their children enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing.

 

 

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