Directions (next ten questions) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given. Certain words/phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
From a technical and economic perspective, many assessments have highlighted the presence of cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy use in buildings. However several bodies note the significance of multiple barriers that prevent the take-up of energy efficiency measures in buildings. These include lack of awareness and concern, limited access to reliable information from trusted sources, fears about risk, disruption and other 'transaction costs', concerns about up-front costs and inadeuqate
Access to suitably priced finance, a lack of confidence in suppliers and technologies and the presence of split incentives between landlords and tenants. The widespread presence of these barriers led experts to predict that without a concerned push from policy, two-thirds of the economically viable potential to improve energy efficiency will remain unexploited by 2035. These barriers are albatross around the neck that represent a classic market failure and a basis for governmental intervention.
While these measurements focus on the technical, financial or economic barriers preventing the take-up of energy efficiency options in buildings, others emphasize the significance of the often deeply embedded social practices that shape energy use in buildings. These analyses focus not on the preferences and rationalities that might shape individual behaviours, but on the ‘entangled’ cultural practices, norms, values and routines that underpin domestic energy use. Focusing on the practice-related aspects of consumption generates very different conceptual framings and policy prescriptions than those that emerge from more traditional or mainstream perspectives. But the underlying case for government intervention to help to promote retrofit and the diffusion of more energy efficient particles is still apparent, even though the forms of intervention advocated are often very different to those that emerge from a more technical or economic perspective.
Based on the recognition of the multiple barriers to change and the social, economic and environmental benefits that could be realized if they were overcome, government support for retrofit (renovating existing infrastructure to make it more energy efficient) has been widespread. Retrofit programmes have been supported and adopted in diverse forms in many settings and their ability to recruit householders and then to impact their energy use has been discussed quite extensively. Frequently, these discussions have criticized the extent to which retrofit schemes rely on incentives and the provision of new technologies to change behaviour and the provision of new technologies to change behaviour whilst ignoring the many other factors that might limit either participation in the schemes or their impact on the behaviours and practices that shape domestic energy use. These factors are obviously central to the success of retrofit schemes, but evaluations of different schemes have found that despite these they can still have significant impacts.
Few experts that the best estimate of the gap between the technical potential and the actual insitu performance of energy efficiency measures is 50 % , with 35% coming from performance gaps and 15% coming from ‘comfort taking’ or direct rebound effects. They further suggest that the direct rebound effect of energy efficiency measures related to household heating is likely to be less than 30% while rebound effects for various domestic energy efficiency lead to increased demand for other goods and services). Other analyses also note that the gap between technical, potential and actual performance is likely to vary by measure, with the range extending from 0% for measures such as solar water heating to 50% for measures such as improved heating controls. And others note that levels of comfort taking are likely to vary according to the levels of comfort taking are likely to vary according to the levels of consumption and fuel poverty in the sample of homes where insulation is installed, with the range extending from 30% when considering homes across all income groups to around 60% when considering only lower income homes. The scale of these gaps is significant because it materially affects the impacts of retrofit schemes and expectations and perceptions of these impacts go on to influence levels of political, financial and public support for these schemes.
The literature on retrofit highlights the presence of multiple barriers to change and the need for government support, if these are to be overcome. Although much has been written on the extent to which different forms of support enable the wider take-up of domestic energy efficiency measures, behaviours and practices, various areas of contestation remain and there is still an absence of robust ex-post evidence on the extent to which these schemes actually do lead to the social, economic and environmental benefits that are widely claimed.
Directions for the following 6 (six) items:
Read the following two passages and answer the items that follow each passage. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only
Passage-1(next four questions)
Accountability, or the lack of it, in governance generally, and civil services, in particular, is a major factor underlying the deficiencies in governance and public administration. Designing an effective framework for accountability has been a key element of the reform agenda. A fundamental issue is whether civil services should be accountable to the political executive of the day or to society at large. In other words, how should internal and external accountability be reconciled? Internal accountability is sought to be achieved by internal performance monitoring, official supervision by bodies like the ---Central-Vigilance Commission-and-Comptroller and Auditor—General, and judicial review of executive decisions. Articles 311 and 312 of the Indian Constitution provide job security and safeguards to the civil services, especially the All India Services. The framers of the Constitution had envisaged that provision of these safeguards would result in a civil service that is not totally subservient to the political executive but will have the strength to function in larger public interest. The need to balance internal and external accountability is thus built into the Constitution. The issue is where to draw the line. Over the years, the emphasis seems to have tilted in favour of greater internal accountability of the civil services to the political leaders of the day who in turn are expected to be externally accountable to the society at large through the election process. This system for seeking accountability to Society has not worked out, and has led to several adverse consequences for governance.
Some special measures can be considered for improving accountability in civil services. Provisions of articles 311 and 312 should be reviewed and laws and regulations framed to ensure external accountability of civil services. The proposed Civil Services Bill seeks to address some of these requirements. The respective roles of professional civil services and the political executive should he defined so that professional managerial functions and management of civil services are depoliticized. For this purpose, effective statutory civil service boards should be created at the centre and in the states. Decentralization and devolution of authority to bring government and decision making closer to the people also helps to enhance accountability.
Passage-2(next two questions)
In general, religious traditions stress our duty to god, or to some universal ethical principle. Our duties to one another derive from these. The religious concept of rights is primarily derived from our relationship to this divinity or principle and the implication it has on our other relationships. This correspondence between rights and duties is critical to any further understanding of justice. But, for justice to be practiced; rights and duties cannot remain formal abstraction. They must be grounded in a community (common unity) bound together by a sense of common union (communion). Even as a personal virtue, this solidarity is essential to the practice and understanding of justice.
Directions for next five questions :
Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
Passage (Five questions)
Nobody can argue that the acquisition of knowledge is more fun and easier with computers. The mere activity of touching and exploring this device constitutes an enjoyable task for a child. This, accompanied by the relaxing attitude and software interactivity, usually contributes to a better grasping of new knowledge. At a higher educational level the availability of digital books, simulators and other academic materials provide the student with an ever accessible source of information, that otherwise would not be at hand. But, besides the increasing complexity and behavior of intelligent software, which is usually embedded in the academic digital material, the need for human interaction in the learning process will always be present, at least in the forseeable future. There is the necessity for a human being to be able to determine what the specific needs of each individual are. A computer, no matter how sophisticated its software is, can hardly mimic the expertise of a teacher in how to explain and adapt complex concepts to different individuals.
Directions (Next Ten Questions) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Rural development in India has witnessed several changes over the years in its emphasis, approaches, strategies and programmes. It has assumed a new dimension and perspectives as a consequence. Rural development can be richer and more meaningful only through the participation of clienteles of development. Just as implementation is the touchstone for planning. People’s participation is the centre-piece in rural development. People’s participation is one of the foremost pre-requisites of development process both from procedural and philosophical perspectives. For the development planners and administrators, it is important to solicit the participation of different groups of rural people, to make the plans participatory.
Rural development aims at improving rural people’s livelihood in an equitable and sustainable manner, both socially and environmentally, through better access to assets and services, and control over productive capital.
The basic objective of Rural Development programmes have been alleviation of poverty and unemployment through creation of basic social and economic infrastructure provision of training to rural unemployed youth and providing employment to marginal farmers/labourers to discourage seasonal and permanent migration to urban areas.
Rural development is the main pillar of our nation’s development in spite of rapid urbanisation, a large section of our population still lives in the villages. Secondly, rural India has lagged behind in development because of many historical factors. Though, the 11th plan began in very favourable circumstances with the economy having grown at the rate of 7.7% per year in the 10th plan period, there still existed a big challenge to correct the developmental imbalances and to accord due priority to development in rural areas. Ministry of Rural Development is implementing a number of programmes aimed at sustainable holistic development in rural areas. The thrust of these programmes is on all round economic and social transformation in rural areas, through a multi-pronged strategy, aiming to reach out to the most disadvantaged sections of the society.
Although, concerted efforts have been initiated by the Government of India through several plans and measures to alleviate poverty in rural India, there still remains much more to be done to bring prosperity in the lives of the people in rural areas. At present, technology dissemination is uneven and slow in the rural areas. Good efforts of organizations developing technologies, devices and products for rural areas could not yield high success. Experiences of many countries suggest that technological development fuelled by demand has a higher dissemination rate. However, in India, technology developers for rural areas have been catering to needs, rather than creating demands. There is no industry linkage machinery to create demand-based-technology market for rural communities. Besides, there is also an imbalance between strategies and effective management programmes. Propagation of technology / schemes for rural development is slow and there is lack of wider participation of different stakeholders. An ideal approach may therefore, include the government panchayat, village personnel, researchers, industries. NGOs and private companies to not only help in reducing this imbalance but also to have a multiplier effect on the overall economy.