Ethics, Integrity
and Aptitude 2024
Section A
1. (a) The application of Artificial Intelligence as
a dependable source of input for administrative rational decision-making is a
debatable issue. Critically examine the statement from the ethical point of
view. (Answer in 150 words)
1. (b) “Ethics encompasses several key dimensions
that are crucial in guiding individuals and organizations towards morally
responsible behaviour.” Explain the key dimensions of ethics that influence
human actions. Discuss how these dimensions shape ethical decision-making in
the professional context. (Answer in 150 words)
2.(a) “It is not enough to talk about peace, one
must believe in it; and it is not enough to believe in it, one must act upon
it.” In the present context, the major weapon industries of the developed
nations are adversely influencing continuation of number of wars for their own
self-interest, all around the world. What are the ethical considerations of the
powerful nations in today’s international arena to stop continuation of ongoing
conflicts? (Answer in 150 words)
2.(b) Global warming and climate change are the
outcomes of human greed in the name of development, indicating the direction in
which extinction of organisms including human beings is heading towards loss of
life on Earth. How do you put an end to this to protect life and bring
equilibrium between the society and the environment? (Answer in 150 words)
3. Given below are three quotations of great
thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present
context?
(a) “Learn
everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way
absorb it, do not become others.” — Swami Vivekananda (Answer in 150 words)
(b) “Faith is
of no avail in the absence of strength. Faith and strength, both are essential
to accomplish any great work.” — Sardar Patel (Answer in 150 words)
(c) “In law,
a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty
if he only thinks of doing so.” — Immanuel Kant (Answer in 150 words)
4.(a) “The concept of Just and Unjust is contextual.
What was just a year back, may turn out to be unjust in today’s context.
Changing context should be constantly under scrutiny to prevent miscarriage of
justice.” Examine the above statement with suitable examples. (Answer in 150
words)
4.(b) “Mindless addiction to Form, ignoring the
Substance of the matter, results in rendering of injustice. A perceptive civil
servant is one who ignores such literalness and carries out true intent.”
Examine the above statement with suitable illustrations. (Answer in 150 words)
5.(a) ‘The ‘Code of Conduct’ and ‘Code of Ethics’
are the sources of guidance in public administration. There is code of conduct
already in operation, whereas code of ethics is not yet put in place. Suggest a
suitable model for code of ethics to maintain integrity, probity and
transparency in governance. (Answer in 150 words)
5.(b) The soul of the new law, Bharatiya Nyaya
Sanhita (BNS) is Justice, Equality and Impartiality based on Indian culture and
ethos. Discuss this in the light of major shift from a doctrine of punishment
to justice in the present judicial system. (Answer in 150 words)
6.(a) “In Indian culture and value system, an equal
opportunity has been provided irrespective of gender identity. The number of
women in public service has been steadily increasing over the years.” Examine
the gender-specific challenges faced by female public servants and suggest suitable
measures to increase their efficiency in discharging their duties and
maintaining high standards of probity. (Answer in 150 words)
6.(b) Mission Karmayogi is aiming for maintaining a
very high standard of conduct and behaviour to ensure efficiency for serving
citizens and in turn developing oneself. How will this scheme empower the civil
servants in enhancing productive efficiency and delivering the services at the
grassroots level? (Answer in 150 words)
Section B
7. There is a technological company named ABC
Incorporated which is the second largest worldwide, situated in the Third
World. You are the Chief Executive Officer and the majority shareholder of this
company. The fast technological improvements have raised worries among
environmental activists, regulatory authorities, and the general public over
the sustainability of this scenario. You confront substantial issues about the
business’s environmental footprint. In 2023, your organization had a
significant increase of 48% in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the levels
recorded in 2019. The significant rise in energy consumption is mainly due to
the surging energy requirements of your data centers, fuelled by the
exponential expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Al-powered services need
much more computational resources and electrical energy compared to
conventional online activities, notwithstanding their notable gains. The
technology’s proliferation has led to a growing concern over the environmental
repercussions, resulting in an increase in warnings. Al models, especially
those used in extensive machine learning and data processing, exhibit much
greater energy consumption than conventional computer tasks, with an
exponential increase.
Although there is already a commitment and goal to
achieve net zero emissions by 2030, the challenge of lowering emissions seems
overwhelming as the integration of Al continues to increase. To achieve this
goal, substantial investments in renewable energy use would be necessary. The
difficulty is exacerbated by the competitive environment of the technology
sector, where rapid innovation is essential for preserving market standing and
shareholders’ worth. To achieve a balance between innovation, profitability and
sustainability, a strategic move is necessary that is in line with both,
business objectives and ethical obligations.
(a) What is your immediate response to the
challenges posed in the above case?
(b) Discuss the ethical issues involved in the above
case.
(c)Your company has been identified to be penalized
by technological gaints. What logical and ethical arguments will you put forth
convince about its necessity?
(d) Being a conscience being, what measures would
you adopt to maintain balance between AI innovation and environment footprint?
(Answer in 250 words)
8. Raman is a
senior IPS officer and has recently been posted as D.G. of a state. Among the
various issues and problems/challenges which needed his immediate attention,
the issue relating to recruitment of unemployed youth by an unknown terrorist
group, was a matter of grave concern.
It was noted that unemployment was relatively high
in the state. The problem of unemployment amongst graduates and those with
higher education was much more grave. Thus they were vulnerable and soft
targets.
In the review meeting taken by him with senior
officers of DIG Range and above, it came to light that a new terrorist group
has emerged at the global level. It has launched a massive drive to recruit young
unemployed people. Special focus was to pick young people from a particular
community. The said organisation seemed to have the clear objective of
utilising/using them for carrying out militant activities. It was also gathered
that the said (new) group is desperately trying to spread its tentacles in his
state.
A definite/reliable intelligence tip was received by
the state CID and the Cyber Cell that a large number of such unemployed youth
have already been contacted by the terrorist outfit/group through social media
and local communal organisations and other contacts. The need of the hour was
to act swiftly and to check these elements/designs before they assume serious
proportions.
Discrete inquiries made by the police, through the
Cyber Cell, revealed that good numbers of unemployed youth are very active on
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. On an average, many of them were spending 6 –
8 hours each day, using electronic devices/internet, etc. It also came to light
that such unemployed youth were showing sympathy and endorsing the messages
received from certain persons, allegedly the contact persons of that global
terrorist group. Their social media accounts revealed their strong affinity to
such groups inasmuch as many of them started forwarding anti-national tweets on
their WhatsApp and Facebook, etc. It seemed that they succumbed to their ploy
and started propagating secessionist ideology.
Their posts were hyper-critical of the government’s
initiatives, policies and subscribing to extreme beliefs and promoting
extremism.
(a) What are the options available to Raman to
tackle the above situation?
(b) What measures would you suggest for
strengthening the existing set-up to ensure that such groups do not succeed in
penetrating and vitiating the atmosphere in the state?
(c) In the above scenario, what action plan would
you advise for enhancing the intelligence gathering mechanism of the police
force? (Answer in 250 words)
9. With
multipronged strategy of the Central and State Governments specially in the last
few years, the naxalite problem has been resolved to a large extent in the
affected states of the country. However, there are a few pockets in certain
states where naxalite problem still persists, mainly due to involvement of
foreign countries. Rohit is posted as SP (Special Operations) for the last one
year, in one of the districts which is still affected by the naxalite problem.
The district administration has taken a lot of developmental works in the
recent past in the naxalite affected areas to win the hearts and minds of the
people. Over a period of time, Rohit has established an excellent intelligence
network to get the real time information regarding the movement of naxalite
cadre. To instill confidence in the public and have moral ascendancy over the
naxalites, a number of cordons and search operations are being conducted by the
police. Rohit, who himself was leading one of the contingents got a message
though his intelligence source that about ten hard core naxalites were hiding
in a particular village with sophisticated weapons. Without wasting any time,
Rohit reached the target village with his team and laid out a foolproof cordon
and started carrying out a systematic search. During the search, his team
managed to overpower all the naxalites along with their automatic weapons.
However, in the meantime, more than five hundred tribal women surrounded the
village and started marching towards the target house.
They were shouting and demanding the immediate
release of insurgents since they are their protectors and saviours. The
situation on the ground was becoming very critical as the tribal women were
extremely agitated and aggressive. Rohit tried to contact his superior officer,
IG (Special Operations) of the state on the radio set and on mobile phone, but
failed to do so due to poor connectivity Rohit was in great dilemma since out
of the naxalites apprehended, two were not only hard core top insurgents with
prize money of & ten lakhs on their heads, but were also involved in a
recent ambush on the security forces. However, if he did not release the
naxalites, the situation could get out of control since the tribal women were
aggressively charging towards them. In that case, to control the situation
Rohit might have to resort to firing which may lead to valuable loss of lives
_of civilians and would further complicate the situation.
(a)What are the options available with Rohit to cope
with the situation?
(b)What are the ethical dilemmas being faced by
Rohit ?
(c)Which of the options, do you think, would be more
appropriate for Rohit to adopt and why?
(d)In the present situation, what are the extra
precautionary measures to be taken by the police in dealing with women
protesters? (Answer in 250 words)
10. Sneha is a Senior Manager working for a big
reputed hospital chain in a mid-sized city. She has been made in-charge of the
new super speciality center that the hospitals building with state-of-the art
equipment and world class medical facilities. The building has been
reconstructed and she is starting the process of procurement for various
equipment and machines. As the head of the committee responsible for
procurement, she has invited bids from all the interested reputed vendors
dealing in medical equipment. She notices that her brother, who is a well-known
supplier in this domain, has also sent his expression of interest. Since the
hospital is privately owned, it is not mandatory for her to select only the
lower bidder. Also, she is aware that her brother’s company has been facing
some financial difficulties and a big supply order will help him recover. At
the same time, allocating the contract to her brother might bring charges of
favouritism against her and tarnish her image The hospital management trusts
her fully and would support any decision of hers
(a). What should be Sneha’s course of action?
(b). How would she justify what she chooses to do?
(c). In this case, how is medical ethics compromised
with vested personal interest? (Answer in 250 words)
11. With the
summer heat being exceptionally severe this year, the district has been facing
severe water shortage. The District Collector has been mobilizing his
subordinate officials to conserve the remaining water reserves for preventing
the district from plunging into acute drinking water crisis.
Along with an awareness campaign for conserving
water, strict measures have been taken for stopping the over-exploitation of
ground-water. Vigilance teams have been deployed to tour the villages and find
the farmers who are drawing water from deep borewells or from the river
reservoir for irrigation. The farmers are agitated by such action. A delegation
of farmers meets the District Collector with their issues and complains that
while they are not being allowed to irrigate their crops, big industries
located near the river are drawing huge amounts of water through deep borewells
for their industrial processes. The farmers allege that their administration is
anti-farmer and corrupt, being bribed by the industry. The district needs to
placate the farmers as they are threatening to go on a prolonged protest. At
the same time, the District Collector has to deal with the water crisis. The
industry cannot be closed as this would result in a large number of workers being
unemployed.
(a) Discuss all options available to the District
Collector as a District Magistrate.
(b) What suitable actions can be taken in view of
mutually compatible interests of the stakeholders?
(c) What are the potential administrative and
ethical dilemmas for the District Collector? (Answer in 250 words)
12. Dr. Srinivasan is a senior scientist working for
a reputed biotechnology company known for its cutting-edge research in
pharmaceuticals. Dr. Srinivasan is heading a research team working on a new
drug aimed at treating a rapidly spreading variant of a new viral infectious
disease. The disease has been rapidly spreading across the world and the cases
reported in the country are increasing. There is huge pressure on Dr.
Srinivasan’s team to expedite the trials for the drug as there is significant
market for it, and the company wants to get the first-mover advantage in the
market. During a team meeting, some senior team members suggest some shortcut
for expediting the clinical trials for the drug and for getting the requisite
approvals. These include manipulating data to exclude some negative outcomes
and selectively reporting positive results, foregoing the process of informed
consent and using compounds already patented by a rival company, rather than
developing one’s own component. Dr. Srinivasan is not comfortable taking such
shortcuts, at the same time he realises meeting the targets is impossible
without using these means.
(a) What would you do in such a situation?
(b) Examine your options and consequences in the
light of the ethical questions involved.
(c) How can data ethics and drug ethics save
humanity at large in such a scenario? (Answer in 250 words)
