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Journalism of Courage
UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-3 to check your progress.
Discuss the importance of palliative care in the Indian healthcare system. Highlight the challenges in its implementation and suggest ways to improve access, especially in rural areas.
Discuss the significance of international collaborations like ISRO’s launch of the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission. How can such missions contribute to advancements in solar research and technology?
Introduction
— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.
— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.
Body
— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.
— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.
— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.
— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.
— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.
Way forward/ conclusion
— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.
— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.
Self Evaluation
— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.
QUESTION 1: Discuss the importance of palliative care in the Indian healthcare system. Highlight the challenges in its implementation and suggest ways to improve access, especially in rural areas.
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— Palliative care improves the quality of life for patients and their families who face physical, psychological, social, or spiritual issues as a result of a life-threatening illness. Caregivers’ quality of life also increases.
— Unnecessary restrictions on morphine and other key regulated palliative drugs limit patients access to proper palliative treatment.
— Adequate national policies, plans, funding, and palliative care training for health professionals are urgently required to increase access.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:
— According to data from Oregon, which was the first state to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill in 1997, two-thirds of those who requested help to die last year were cancer patients. Not unexpectedly, the primary reasons for patients seeking this option are loss of dignity, fear of becoming a burden, insufficient pain control, and the financial consequences of continuing therapy.
— Palliative care fulfils its goals by addressing patients’ and carers’ medical, psychosocial, spiritual, and financial needs.
— The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that parents may not remove the feeding tube of a 30-year-old who had been in a vegetative state for 11 years due to a head injury. The parents contended that they could no longer afford to care for their son. Such demands are not unique and are indicative of our callous indifference to suffering.
— We have no doubt that palliative care must be universally offered and integrated into the public healthcare system.
— With noncommunicable diseases on the rise and the possibility of an ageing population looming large, this component of care cannot be overlooked, since what are currently solitary demands for assistance in dying are likely to become a chorus.
— Marginalised and vulnerable people who rely on family members or the state for financial support are likely to be disproportionately affected.
— Palliative and hospice care provide techniques for preventing severe health-related suffering.
Conclusion:
— As populations age and the burden of noncommunicable and communicable diseases rises, so will the global demand for palliative care.
— Palliative care encompasses a wide range of services provided by a diverse group of specialists, including physicians, nurses, support workers, paramedics, chemists, physiotherapists, and volunteers, all of whom play equally vital roles in the care of patients and their families.
(Source: Why India needs to invest in palliative care by Harmala Gupta)
Points to Ponder
What is the difference between communicable and noncommunicable diseases?
SC rulings on right to die
Related Previous Year Questions
Describe the context and salient features of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. (2024)
Introducing the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare? (2023)
QUESTION 2: Discuss the significance of international collaborations like ISRO’s launch of the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission. How can such missions contribute to advancements in solar research and technology?
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission, which will research the solar corona, the outermost and hottest component of the Sun’s atmosphere, from Sriharikota.
— The mission will also make the first “precision formation flying” attempt, in which two spacecraft fly together and maintain a stable configuration in space.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:
— Proba-3, developed at an estimated cost of 200 million euros, is planned to have a two-year mission life. It will be launched into a highly elliptical orbit measuring approximately 600 x 60,530 km, with an orbital period of 19.7 hours.
— The mission includes two satellites that will be launched together, separated, and then flown in tandem. They will then construct a solar coronagraph, a device that helps block out the Sun’s brilliant light, revealing the objects and atmosphere surrounding it.
— The corona’s temperature, which can reach 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, makes it difficult to study closely with any instrument. However, it is crucial for scientific research because all space weather and associated turbulences – solar storms, solar winds, and so on — start in the corona.
— These occurrences affect space weather and may disrupt the smooth running of all satellite-based communications, navigation, and power infrastructures on Earth. Proba-3 will be equipped with three instruments to investigate these:
— The Association of Spacecraft for Polarimetric and Imaging Investigation of the Sun’s Corona (ASPIICS), also known as the coronagraph. Its area of vision spans the Sun’s outer and inner corona, a circular band visible during solar eclipses. The equipment is equipped with a 1.4-metre diameter occulting disc, which blocks the Sun’s light and allows for a close-up observation of this belt.
— The Digital Absolute Radiometer (DARA) will continuously monitor the Sun’s total energy output, or total solar irradiance.
— The 3D Energetic Electron Spectrometer (3DEES) will measure electron fluxes as they move through Earth’s radiation belts, providing information for space weather research.
Conclusion:
— The two satellites — Occulter Spacecraft (weighing 200 kg) and the Coronagraph Spacecraft (weighing 340 kg) — will mimic a natural solar eclipse. They will manoeuvre precisely in Earth’s orbit so that one satellite casts a shadow onto the other.
— It is highly likely that the Indian solar physicist community will have exclusive access to the Proba-3 data. Along with their Belgian counterparts, a few Indian solar physicists contributed to the development of the mission’s scientific goals.
— Proba-3 is dubbed ESA’s technological demonstration mission. The fact that ISRO was chosen to launch the mission highlights India’s dependable space launch facilities and expanding space capabilities. One of the mission’s highlights is its low cost of launch.
(Source: All about Proba-3, the advanced European solar mission that ISRO will launch by Anjali Marar)
Points to Ponder
Read about previous Proba missions
How might India benefit from Proba-3?
Related Previous Year Questions
What is the main task of India’s third moon mission which could not be achieved in its earlier mission? List the countries that have achieved this task. Introduce the subsystems in the spacecraft launched and explain the role of the Virtual Launch Control Centre’ at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre which contributed to the successful launch from Sriharikota. (2023)
Launched on 25th December, 2021, James Webb Space Telescope has been much in the news since then. What are its unique features which make it superior to its predecessor Space Telescopes? What are the key goals of this mission? What potential benefits does it hold for the human race? (2022)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 79)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 80)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 80)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 79)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 80)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 79)
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