Secularism — Political Science STD 11 Humanities — Question

Use of violence does not achieve just ends in the long run. What do you think about this statement?

Discuss some of the social and ecological costs of the kind of development which has been pursued in most countries.

Read the news report below and identify the following aspects:

• What is the case about?
• Who has been the beneficiary in the case?
• Who is the petitioner in the case?
• Visualise what would have been the different arguments put forward by the company.
• What arguments would the farmers have put forward?

Supreme Court orders REL to pay Rs. 300 crore to Dahanu farmers:
Our Corporate Bureau 24 March 2005
Mumbai: The Supreme Court has ordered Reliance Energy to pay Rs. 300 crore to farmers who grow the chikoo fruit in the Dahanu area outside Mumbai. The order comes after the chikoo growers petitioned the court against the pollution caused by Reliance’s thermal power plant.
Dahanu, which is 150km from Mumbai, was a self-sustaining agricultural and horticultural economy known for its fisheries and forests just over a decade ago, but was devastated in 1989 when a thermal power plant came into operation in the region. The next year, this fertile belt saw its first crop failure. Now, 70 percent of the crop of what was once the fruit bowl of Maharashtra is gone. The fisheries have shut and the forest cover has thinned. Farmers and environmentalists say that fly ash from the power plant entered ground water and polluted the entire eco-system. The Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority ordered the thermal station to set up a pollution control unit to reduce sulphur emissions, and in spite of a Supreme Court order backing the order the pollution control plant was not set up even by 2002. In 2003, Reliance acquired the thermal station and re-submitted a schedule for installation process in 2004. As the pollution control plant is still not set up, the Dahanu Taluka Environmental Protection Authority asked Reliance for a bank guarantee of Rs. 300 crores.

Illustrate with suitable examples the factors that lead to the emergence of nationalist feelings.

Match the following:

i.	Works within the particular State in which recruited.	a.	Indian Foreign Service.
ii.	Works in any central government office located either at the national capital or elsewhere in the country.	b.	State Civil Services.
iii.	Works in a particular State to which allotted; can also be sent on deputation to the centre.	c.	All India Services.
iv.	Works in Indian missions abroad.	d.	Central Services.

The parliamentary system of executive vests many powers in the legislature for controlling the executive. Why, do you think, is it so necessary to control the executive?

A former Chief Election Commissioner joined a political party and contested elections. There are various views on this issue. One view is that a former Election Commissioner is an independent citizen and has a right to join any political party and to contest election. According to the other view, leaving this possibility open can affect the impartiality of the Election Commission. So, former Election Commissioners must not be allowed to contest any elections. Which position do you agree with and why?

Discuss briefly some of the new rights claims which are being put forward in our country today for example the rights of tribal people to protect their habitat and way of life, or the rights of children against bonded labour.

There is a view that absolute economic equality is neither possible nor desirable. It is argued that the most a society can do is to try and reduce the gaps between the richest and poorest members of society. Do you agree?

How does Rawls use the idea of a veil of ignorance to argue that fair and just distribution can be defended on rational grounds?