GD TOPICS

Topic: A politician’s life is not private

FOR

• Politicians cannot plead the invasion of privacy argument.

• Lives of politicians are in the public domain and therefore open to scrutiny.
• What such films reveal may be uncomfortable but that comes with the job.
• World over movies and documentaries are made on the lives of politicians.
• Some are fictional accounts while others are as close to the truth as cinema possibly can.
• Many have threatened legal action to thwart the projects unless the producers comply
with their demands.
• This is tantamount to threatening public disorder and is simply unacceptable in a
democracy like ours.

AGAINST

• It is unfair to produce movies on the lives of political personalities without his/her

consent.
• Political parties’ demands that producers seek permission before making a film on their
leaders’ lives are not unreasonable.
• People in public life are often given no privacy at all.
• Their lives are subject to intense scrutiny at any time. The whole world feels free to sit in
judgment over them.
• The impressions that someone (the film maker) has of them could potentially influence
the opinions of millions of people.
• In that context, is it so wrong to ask that they have the right to control what is said
about them?
• Public personalities are more often than not the subjects of irresponsible gossip, which
can ruin their relationships, not to mention their careers.
• Film makers do it so cleverly that the affected politicians cannot seek recourse in the law.
• It can be very difficult for an average person to sift through the gossip and figure out
who the real person behind the public face is.
• Any director or producer who wants to make a film about the life of political figures
should seek the party’s approval — in the interests of art as much as anything else.

Topic: India must curb tobacco cultivation to check cancer deaths

FOR

• The government proposal to reduce tobacco cultivation is not enough.

• Tobacco cultivation should be stopped immediately.
• Alternative sources of employment for those who are involved in this occupation must be
provided.
• More than a quarter of all cancer deaths are due to tobacco use.
• Each year, seven million people die from cancer, and 11 million new cases are diagnosed
worldwide.
• More people die from cancer than from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis put together:
• Each year, tobacco kills around 5 million people, of whom 1.4 million die of lung cancer.
• Lung cancer is the cancer most commonly associated with smoking: around 90% of all
lung cancers are caused by smoking, either directly or through indirect exposure.
• Over 90% of patients with oral cancer use tobacco by either smoking or chewing it.
• People, who quit, regardless of age, live longer than people who continue to smoke.
• Halving tobacco consumption now would avert 150 million premature deaths by 2050.

AGAINST

• Cultivation of tobacco provides livelihood to 27 million people

• Any proposal to cut tobacco cultivation should be viewed dispassionately.
• Tobacco cultivation occupies a unique position in the country.
• India is the world’s third largest producer of tobacco, making it an extremely important
commercial crop.
• In western countries tobacco cultivation is declining primarily due to high cost and
withdrawal of subsidies.
• In India there are no specific subsidies for tobacco farming.
• In rest of the world, cigarettes account for over 90% of tobacco consumption.
• Cigarettes contribute about 85% of the total tobacco excise revenue.

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• Exports of tobacco from India over the past couple of years have grown at an exponential
rate.
• India can emerge as a major exporter in the world.
• Any reduction in the cultivation of tobacco will not only limit India’s ability to exploit the
huge export potential but also deprive the large farming community its source of
livelihood.

Topic: Football will become as big as Cricket in India

FOR

• Football retains its fan following in India inspite of India’s poor performance at the
international level.
• The sport is not devoid of corporate sponsorship in India.
• Sunil Bharti Mittal of Airtel has set up the Bharti-AIFF Academy and pledged Rs 100 crore
into grassroot development of the game.
• Liverpool and Arsenal sent their coaching squads to India for the very first time.
• Art auction house Osian’s has taken over sponsorship of world’s oldest football
tournament, The Durrand Cup.
• Zee Group has paid Rs 200 crore for a telecast right of Indian football.
• AIFF is getting top quality management talent. Satyajit Sadanand, a graduate from IIM–
Lucknow, joined the AIFF.
• India’s Under-17 team was the joint Group leader along with Iraq, topping the 1st stage
of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
• Advertising reflects society and trends, and trends are reflected in advertising.
• The latest Airtel TV commercial features two kids playing football.

AGAINST

• Cricket has been ingrained in the psyche of the masses.

• The BCCI has done a lot for the development of the game.
• Domestic structure has been revamped, better coaches, physios, umpiring training
programs, training academies, upgrading stadium facilities, etc.
• In comparison, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is a divided house.
• There is infighting among the players and administrators and the game is unable to pull
in the crowds.
• Lack of sponsors has affected the infrastructure in terms of poor facilities at grounds,
sub-standard training and development facilities.
• Successful performances such as the 1983 World Cup win have boosted Cricket’s
popularity in India.
• On the contrary, India’s performances in football make pathetic reading.
• The standard of Indian football (compared globally) is poor — the national team is ranked
way past 100 in the FIFA ratings.
• There has been a clear lack of team focus by the administrators for too long.
• What India needs is heroes and icons to lead.
• The game of football has not thrown up demigods for the Indian public to idolise.
• So football can never become bigger than cricket.

Topic: First mover advantage may not be an advantage after all

FOR

• Late movers learn from first movers’ mistakes and that helps design right market
strategies
• The first commercial version of the PC was launched by Altair in 1975, but today the
market leader is Dell.
• The first Web Browser was launched by Mosaic in 1992 but Microsoft IE is the leader
now.
• While the first internet search engine was introduced by Excite, yet Google turned out to
be the market leader.
• Conventional wisdom suggests that you need to be the first mover to win.
• In a lot of cases in today’s world this truism doesn’t hold water in its entirety.
• The firm which starts of first may not win the race if it does not have the necessary
ingredients required or staying power.
• Most first mover organisations may exhaust a lot of necessary resources at the start and
not have enough left when things get tough.

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• Late movers have the benefit of a free ride on the pioneering firm’s investments in a
number of areas like lesser market development and research costs.
• It’s so easy for companies to copy what first movers have done and sometimes at half
the cost and at twice the speed.
• Ensuring that you or your company constantly differentiate in the market place in ways
and means that customer values is what competitive advantage is all about.

AGAINST

• In business, as in life, its’ the early bird that catches the worm, aver early entrants.
• First mover gains early market share.
• The first mover company creates a perception in the minds of the consumers that the
brand can be associated with innovation.
• Early entrants have a technology leadership and the market understanding of reducing
cost of a product after reading the market as an early mover.
• As a first mover, it is always a challenge to reach out to the consumers by the best
possible distribution channel.
• The most significant benefit of a first move is to capture a mindshare and gain early
market share.
• The first mover company can create an image of being dramatically different.
• The brand switching costs are always a deterrent and that way the first mover gets an
advantage.
• As an initiator, players create a niche for themselves in the consumer’s mind.

Topic: Military service should be made compulsory

FOR

• Indian armed forces are still held in high esteem in society at large.
• In the context of the high levels of unemployment in the country there is no dearth of
volunteers for recruitment in the rank and file.
• The profession of arms has always been seen as a noble one.
• “Military service” for a period of three to five years in the armed forces should be made
mandatory for everyone seeking employment in central and state government service.
• Israel and Switzerland have compulsory military service.
• It’s definitely a good idea to have a well trained civilian as well as a trained army.
• Compulsory military service can give person a sense of discipline and patriotism.
• After military training, the person should be given a choice of joining the armed forces or
doing 6 months of compulsory social work.
• This will provide the armed forces with trained volunteers and the volunteer will get
valuable experience that will embellish his résumé.
• Every year, there’s a huge rush of youths competing with each other to enter the armed
forces. The army offers good education opportunities, good salaries, housing for the
officer as well his family.
• Mass recruitment through alternate channels like compulsory service is a good way for
the army to get higher caliber officer cadets.

AGAINST

• India’s ethos militates against something as drastic as conscription.

• Conscription is generally a means to fill the forces with foot-soldiers and in India, there is
no shortage of people lining up to join the army as soldiers.
• It is wishful thinking to look at compulsory military training as a possible way to get over
the problem of an officer shortage the Indian army is facing.
• Unless and until service conditions are improved young people will simply not want to
join the army as officers.
• With jobs aplenty in the private sector, few people are willing to join the armed forces.
• Instead of conscription, the answer to officer shortfall lies in improving the salary, status
and service conditions of army officers.

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Topic: Friendship with China is wishful thinking

FOR

• When it comes to strengthening political ties with China, caution must be the watchword.
• There are certain inbuilt brakes in the relationship we need to be aware of.
• We need to get over Chindia cliches or old-fashioned Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai
sentimentality.
• India-China trade is skewed in China’s favour.
• The border problem is looking intractable with China making little attempt at resolving it.
• Beijing is actually hardening its position, pushing its claim to the Tawang district of
Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet.
• Instead of entirely normalising ties, Beijing wishes to keep New Delhi under pressure.
• Indian and Chinese political systems are not compatible.
• A successful and flourishing multicultural democracy is an anathema to Communist
China.
• That places the two countries in an inevitable competition for influence.

AGAINST

• India and China share common challenges in terms of population volume, resource
availability and public health issues.
• They are faced with similar exigencies in a politically charged and often unstable region
of the world that include countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
• It makes sense for India and China to nurture mutual trust and cooperation rather than
work at cross purposes.
• Growing visits by Chinese and Indian leaders to each others’ countries must be seen
signs to infuse new life into Sino-Indian relationship.
• The two countries share a large number of common interests in commerce and trade.
• The two countries have the manpower and human resources to conduct joint research on
alternative and cleaner energy resources.
• This will help them face the challenge of moving away from conventional fossil fuels like
coal and oil.
• The two emerging powers will benefit immensely by coming together to reduce inefficient
and wasteful production methods and consumption patterns.

Topic: Increase in the number of judges is essential for delivering

speedy justice

FOR

• In India, there are only 13 judges per million people.

• In countries with shorter time lags between the admittance of a case and the delivery of
a judgment, such as the US and UK, this number is 107 and 51 per million respectively.
• Judiciary is critically understaffed.
• More judges are required if cases are to be decided quickly.
• Judiciary has, in the last few years, acted as an agent of positive change.
• It is the judiciary that has been the saving grace for citizens where the legislature and
executive have failed to do their jobs.

AGAINST

• More judges in courts need not necessarily reduce judicial delays.

• The problem lies with judges admitting too may petitions.
• Quality of judges matters more than their numbers.
• Having more judges would only increase the number of cases pending, rather than
ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
• The criticism about judiciary admitting too many frivolous cases is valid.
• Ours is a litigation-friendly society.
• Public interest litigation has become a tool in the hands of litigation-obsessed individuals
to choke the judicial system.
• There are a lot of cases where individuals have approached courts, especially lower
courts, accusing well-known personalities of assaulting national honour or public
morality.
• Courts are getting involved in matters of the legislature and the executive.
• For example, managing public utilities and resources is the responsibility of elected public
officials and bureaucrats.
• There is a failure on the part of the government to deliver essential services to its
citizens.

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• But that doesn’t mean the judiciary should step into the void. It is best to leave each arm
of the state to manage its domain.
• Courts should stick to their core competence, which is interpreting the law.

Topic: Surrogate motherhood should be legitimized in India

FOR

• Surrogacy is just another way of creating life in the womb.

• Three persons are involved in the creative process: the biological mother and father and
the woman who makes her womb available for gestation.
• The decision to go in for a surrogate arrangement must be entirely that of these
individuals.
• As long as there is no violation of anyone’s rights, surrogacy would be just one more way
of attaining parenthood.
• An absence of legal permission for surrogacy will drive the so-called market for wombs
underground.

AGAINST

• Adoption of orphaned kids is a better option to surrogacy.

• In surrogate motherhood emotional well-being of four lives is at stake.
• There have been cases where the surrogate mothers have backed out of surrogacy
agreements causing distress to couples.
• Hiring of wombs has become a growing business in India and malpractices have crept
into the system.
• The government authority permitting surrogate motherhood is ill-equipped to conduct a
thorough background check of the couple and the surrogate mother.
• Surrogate motherhood is unethical as well as immoral.
• Surrogacy will become another avenue for exploitation for unscrupulous elements in the
healthcare business.
• In a country crippled by abject poverty, how will the government body guarantee that
women will not agree to surrogacy just to be able to eat two square meals a day?
• Even if the law makes post-natal care a precondition to surrogacy, the government will
be unable to ensure that the law is being obeyed.
• It is downright unethical for someone to create a human life with the intention of making
a profit from it, and to ultimately give it up.
• Surrogacy is morally suspect because it is contrary to the unity of marriage and the
dignity of procreation of a human person. It can be exploitative and oppressive of
women.
• The government should spread awareness about adoption of orphaned kids.

The luxury market in India is a big hype

FOR

In the West, the handbags that women routinely carry display luxury tags such as Louis
Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. In India, luxury brands are seldom seen in such numbers, and the
genuine stuff is a genuinely rare exception. How can luxury brands be big in our country
when they touch only a small sub-decimal point of our population? Luxury in India is big on
hype, small on substance. It is big only because our much featured Page-3 chatterati love
speaking about these brands even as they swill the wine around. The result is a well-known
optical illusion called disproportionate magnification.

Also, the luxury shopping experience is entirely missing in our country. Executives of
European luxury brands often lament–“How can we create luxury on streets that resemble a
ghetto?”

And they are quite right. Where is the Indian equivalent of Tokyo’s Ginza, London’s Bond
Street and Milan’s Via Napolean? India has no concept of a luxury street. Five-star hotels
are often the only choice for luxury brands, but these arcades attract only limited footfalls
and create negligible impact.

So, luxury in India ends up with a lot of talk and very little real reach. Contrast this with
premium or mid-market retailers who have hundreds of brilliant stores in highstreets across
the country.

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Luxury will come into its own in India only when affluent Indians acquire the taste for a truly
luxurious and refined lifestyle, which brands such as Dior and Hermes symbolise. Today,
most of India’s rich consuming class still has a ‘mass affluent’ mindset, particularly in non-
traditional categories. They prefer mid-market and premium brands which connote
aspiration and superior quality, over super-expensive luxury products for which there is
neither strong craving nor adequate appreciation. So, high-end Raymonds suiting is still the
popular choice for affluent weddings while the intangible charms of an Ermenegildo Zegna
bespoke suit are yet to be discovered.

Therefore, luxury is certainly overhyped in India. It touches few people, has no shopping
environment, and is yet to be discovered by most affluent Indians. It is very much a
nascent play today.

AGAINST

LUXURY always moves in as a correlation of growth in mass affluence in any country before
it takes a firm place in defining lifestyle. In a growing economy like ours, luxury at times
can be deemed as only (and merely the) visibility of elite international brands. This actually
is matured state of luxury.

There can be various indicators in an economy if one were to see how need becomes
necessity then comfort and finally luxury. We are rapidly crossing the stage of having
mobile phones, owning a car and a mortgaged property within our twenties, owning a set of
international brands in clothing in our wardrobes in couple of years of our first jobs. With an
inevitable growth of mass affluence in India, by 2010 and may be even earlier, we would be
close to 40% of the similar bracket population as compared to the fashion capital of the
world, London.

The nouveau riche believes in ‘have it, flaunt it’ attitude and this trend will be here hence
on. Last year, luxury sports car maker Porsche made its Indian debut with the iconic 911
Carrera Turbo, the Boxter and its highly rated Cayenne SUV. Within a week of a launch,
Porsche dealers claim to have taken 19 orders in Delhi and 12 in Mumbai, mostly for the
Cayenne SUV. Whether it is a Porsche Cayenne SUV or Ermenegildo Zegna suit, wrist
adorned with a Patek Philippe Men’s Chronograph, shades of Tag Heuer Visions, crocodile
leather shoes of Hugo Boss, all are up for grabs at globally similar prices.

A couple of years ago, every single well-known luxury item was bought abroad, (and that
meant) spending foreign exchange, lining up at the VAT refund counters at airports. All
these brands are lining up in the country at globally competitive prices and at a store
nearby (now).

Furthermore, luxury market across the world is for the attitudinal individuals who don’t shy
in showing off and then it becomes a habit. It all starts from a neo-rich category where
demand is at peak for experiential reasons and then the market matures on stable growth
as experiences become habits. We are truly in that experiential stage and hence most of the
growth would be seen over the next four to five years. This is a firm beginning for the
luxury markets in India and it will soon become a common lifestyle with the widespread
affluence over the next four to five years.