To know more about our Samachar Manthan course which deals with enhancing your Mains answer writing skills along with Current Affairs preparation, read & Subscribe here: https://www.civilsdaily.com/samachar-manthan/
Category: Announcements
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Dear Students,
The Daily AWE Program has been well received with a huge number of enrollments which are expected to only increase in the coming months. We were not prepared for this kind of response and are in the process of adding more experienced folks as reviewers to handle the burden.
As the program evolves, we have to make certain changes to ensure a smooth functioning and quality.
- Students will be given 10 days extra for wrapping up the previous month. Meaning, if you enroll for the month of November, you can submit answers for questions posted in November(from 1st to last day of November) till 10th December. The deadline makes sense for students as old questions might not have relevance anymore.
- We will follow a monthly cycle. Meaning you enroll for a particular month. If you join on the 9th of December, you will have access to the month December from the first day to the last day of December. It will *NOT* be from 9th December to 9th January. You will be expected to manage time to submit the answers for the days you’ve missed.
- Students joining after 25th of a particular month can opt for AWE for the next month. Meaning – if you join on 26th of November, you have the option of enrolling for the month of December(1st to last day of December). Students who join on the 23rd of November will have close to 18 days to submit all answers for the month of November. We believe it is a good enough time to clear the backlog.
The timelines for reviews has changed.
We have observed that a good number of students are submitting answers to old questions much late and on weekends. This becomes a hassle at our end and prevents us from being quick without compromising on the quality.
We are committed to providing you reviews ASAP. But we will keep a 1-week deadline for students submitting their answers on the same day and a 2-week deadline for students submitting their answers late. This is to ensure that we don’t compromise on the quality just to stick to a deadline. It is better to get a proper review than to get a quicker review.
*PLEASE NOTE* – The above modifications apply for students who will be joining from the 26th of November. For our old students, these new rules are relaxed and they can submit the answers for November till 20th December.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
Categories
Released – IOS Update for iPad
Dear Students,
On popular demand, we had released the IOS app. It was well received by everyone. Post that we’ve received many requests to ensure that the app works for iPads. Our present upgrade addresses this issue.
We have received many more queries from IOS users to make the app more jazzy with superior experience since they are used to it. We believe the app at its present state is functional and serves its purpose. Critical bugs and important updates will definitely be addressed, but more aspirational features will need to wait.
At the same time, we request students to rate our apps with a 5 star. This helps us stay motivated and put more efforts into refining our offerings.
Dear Students,
We have started receiving entries for the interview program.
There are a few details we thought were important to communicate.
- Students appearing for the first time should go through the following transcripts to get an idea of the actual interview program.
https://www.civilsdaily.com/category/interview-transcripts/
We are in the process of adding more transcripts.
- Students, who have given the interview last time but haven’t scored well, we would like to understand their assessment of what they lacked. Hence, we request you to email the same. Such introspection is indeed beneficial.
As an eg. email we received – “My answers were generally short and non-engaging. There were moments of long pauses from the panelist side. Thats how I knew it wasnt going that great. Dont know how to handle that if it happens again.”
Looking forward to your mails.
Folks,
The importance of the 3rd round of exam – The Personal Interview, cannot be underscored. If you perform exceptionally well, it will help you compensate for your any shortage in your mains score. At its worst, it will undo the hard work that you put in to get a high score in mains and push you to a lower service.
People who have cleared the mains generally don’t face any difficulty in navigating through the interviews. However, we have come across many cases that have failed to perform exceptionally well. Hence, we want to work towards a robust program.
The approach followed by coaching institutes to mock interview programs is very unstructured. You present before a panel and are asked questions one after the other. If you fail to answer them, you are asked to prepare those topics. In the next round, you are asked a completely different set of questions independent of your first round of performance.
We want to follow a very different approach. It is not about merely answering ad-hoc questions but testing your capabilities across the following competencies.
General
1. Economy
2. International Relations
3. Governance and social issues
4. Current Affairs
DAF Specific
1. Past background
2. Hometown/state information
3. Hobbies
4. Your optional subject
Here is how the program will work
General guidelines –
1. Mail us your DAF with filename changed to yourname-rollnumber and subject as PDP yourname–rollnumber.
2. In the email, tell us what areas you feel require special attention/are most uncomfortable with.
3. We will join you to our exclusive telegram group.
4. You can connect with students from the same hometown/city & hobbies. This will help you collaborate and prepare these competencies better.
5. The telegram group will be moderated by our panelists who will answer your general queries and pose relevant questions.
6. We will try to pose stress based question regularly so you have
7. At the same time, we will be posting videos and notes which we believe can be of help in tackling the interview program.
Individual focus
1. 1-1 online/on-call interviews with our panelists.
2. 2nd round of mocks will be held offline.
3. DAF specific material wherever possible.
We will sincerely try to help all our students. However, the program will require few iterations to be perfected. We hope to collect information on specific hobbies and hometown/city so they can be of help for future aspirants. We look to your cooperation in this regard.
Our Panel
We have a commitment from the following academicians, seasoned bureaucrats, and subject matter experts. They believe in our cause and are willing to put in hours to train aspirants.
Virendra Pratap Singh, IRPS
Virendra Pratap Singh did is B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 2003. He joined the services with immense experience in the Private Sector working across domains in high profile companies like Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and Tata Motors. He has consistently scored very high marks in interviews. His 2009 score of 213/300 was among the toppers.
His insights have proved to be very helpful to aspirants appearing for exams year after year.
Dr. Makhan Saikia
Dr. Saikia is an Author & Expert on International Affairs. He holds an MA & M. Phil (Pol. Sc.) from JNU and Ph.D (Globalization and Governance) from TISS, Mumbai.
He has taught at some of the finest universities.
Occasionally, he has written for various newspapers.
His articles can be found here.
Vipul Shrivastava, IPS
Vipul Shrivastava did his B.Tech from IIT Powai. He was one of the highest scorers during his time. He is presently also dedicating time to help aspirants with their essay preparation.
Dr. Vipin Garg, IAS
Dr. Vipin Garg is a Founding Mentor at Civilsdaily. He did his MBBS from AIIMS and then moved to the services. He was the highest scorer in CSE Interview 2016 with 209 marks. His notes and insights have been of immense help to the students.
Rohit Pande, Consultant Social Enterprises
Rohit Pande is a Founding Mentor at Civilsdaily. He did his B.Tech from IIT Guwahati. After a stint in various consulting roles across top firms, he is exploring problems in the social sector and has immense ground level knowledge about issues in waste management, education, health, and financial services. His insights can be extremely useful as discussion points in the interview.
Our faculty members who are well aware of recent trends and have immense experience with the interview rounds will also be working with you.
Here are the links to Mock Interviews –
To know more about our Samachar Manthan course which deals with enhancing your Mains answer writing skills along with Current Affairs preparation, read & Subscribe here:
https://www.civilsdaily.com/samachar-manthan/
We are delighted to launch the new batch for Samachar Manthan for 2018-2019 covering Current Affairs from December 2018 to May 2019
The course is designed to help you develop a solid command on your newspaper reading and current affairs analyzing skills. Since it builds your core, it is important for both Prelims and Mains
Join Samachar Manthan 2018-19 (December 2018 to May 2019) [without Answer Writing Module] here: Click2Join
Join Samachar Manthan 2018-19 (December 2018 to May 2019) [with Answer Writing Module] here: Click2Join
Want to cover Current Affairs for 1 Year (June 2018 to May 2019)?
Join Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 Program
Enrol to Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (with Answer Writing Module) here: Click2Join
Enrol to Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (without Answer Writing Module) here: Click2Join
Our students have benefited a lot from the classes and many have done well in 2018 prelims despite the paper being tricky. We are in the process of compiling their reviews.
What are we offering and how is it unique?
1. Mentorship and guidance taken to a whole new level
Once you enrol, you’ll be assigned a Telegram group headed by Sajal Sir and rankers like Dr. Vipin Garg AIR 20, Swapnil Pawar AIR 525 and others. Our past students have found this immensely beneficial.
- A convenient way to resolve your doubts and queries.
- You’ll be provided with value-added material which is very important.
- You’ll have an ecosystem to study and learn from.
- Above all, it will help you stay focused every day.
Here’s what some of our students had to say about our mentorship:
2. Four stage structure of Video->Notes->testing->review to perfect your preparation
The sequence of video->Notes->testing->review is the best way to ensure maximum retention and a rock solid preparation. Each component of the program has been meticulously crafted.
3. Our video lectures and notes on weekly CA are brief but comprehensive
Packed 2-2.5 hours Weekly videos will focus on news and its importance from both prelims and mains perspective.
There are 2 lectures each week- Economy, Polity, IR & miscellaneous CA on Friday by Sajal sir & SciTech + Environment on Tuesday by Rakesh sir. All lectures have in-depth coverage of Mains as well as Prelims issues.
We understand that the UPSC exam is a generalist exam. It’s more important to cover more issues than to cover one issue in more depth. Hence, we maintain a fine balance of covering cover many important news items and have a detailed discussion on selected topics which require the same. This program will also help you understand how to utilize current affairs in all your prelims and mains papers. This ideology makes this course the best utilization of your time.
Here’s what some of our students had to say about the lectures being provided in the program:
4. Guest Lectures on specific issues by Dr. Vipin Garg, IAS (Rank 20, UPSC 2016), Vipul Shrivastava, IPS (2012 batch)
Besides the above, you will have access to our monthly magazines and weekly notes/links to important news/external material. You will have access to all modules included in our Mentorship program – Study-plan, strategy discussion, specific weaknesses, overall guidance. Since our mentors will have information about your performance
5. Weekly Mains Test and Evaluation by our team of subject experts (Available only in Answer Writing Module)
The video and notes will be followed by a test released every weekend. It will have 10 high-quality questions. This will complete your study loop and enhance your retention.
>Mains level questions with feedback. Sample review is attached.
> Answer Enhancement
We chose the Question & Answer format because it is perfectly aligned with the requirements of the exam. Having information is very different from presenting it in an answer with a proper structure. This will help in better retention of prelims specific information and prepare a solid ground for your mains prep. After every 2nd test you attempt, you can reach out to our mentors for personalized feedback. 
6. Current Affairs Monthly Prelims Test package This was a feedback we received from many students. They wanted appropriate focus on the current affairs program.
Join Samachar Manthan 2018-19 (December 2018 to May 2019) [without Answer Writing Module] here: Click2Join
Join Samachar Manthan 2018-19 (December 2018 to May 2019) [with Answer Writing Module]: Click2Join
Enrol to Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (with Answer Writing Module) here: Click2Join
Enrol to Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (without Answer Writing Module) here: Click2Join
Prime Students get their usual discount of 30%
Old students will get a discount of 20% on joining
All other students get a discount of 10% until 2 December 2018 (Date of program start)
This video is a part of our Demystifying Economics- Core & Current Affairs Buildup Lecture Series
The lecture covers the following topics:
1) The theory of protectionism
2) The basic theory of trade barriers: Tariffs
3) US-China trade war
4) Cost of tariffs imposition
5) Gains and losses from impositions of tariffs
Know more about the program and join here: https://bit.ly/2x1rWe4
To know more about our Samachar Manthan course which deals with enhancing your Mains answer writing skills along with Current Affairs preparation, read & Subscribe here: https://www.civilsdaily.com/samachar-manthan/
Categories
Message from Civilsdaily
Dear students,
This week we launched the AWE program and we’ve seen a tremendous response. Though we had earlier rejected the idea of the daily answer writing, we now understand its importance especially for those who are not confident about going for the elaborate Mains Guidance Program.
This month also saw the launch of our ios application. It is not perfect and is a work in progress. It has limited features but our ios audience will now have access to the most important content. An ipad compatible version is on its way.
While many new initiatives are in the pipeline, we wanted to reach out to our students to what lies in our journey ahead.
A traditional coaching would take over 1.5L for a 1-year program. Neither do they revamp their content depending upon observed trends, nor do they provide any personalized attention. you are stuck in a classroom full of 500 students. The teacher is accessible but it requires you to either catch him/her after the class or schedule an appointment. There is no standard 1-1 interaction time thus discouraging interactions.
We want to change all of that. We are constantly working towards improving our offerings. We want to get better at guessing the precise questions that will be asked in both prelims and mains. We want our students to prepare better so they can handle adverse situations. Our Mains Guidance Program has institutionalized 1-1 interaction with the mentors.
Moreover, we are trying to get the best people with a proven track record to help you out. Vipul Sir conducting our Essay Program is an IPS officer while Pritam Sir for the AWE has appeared for 3 interviews. These are solid guys capable of uplifting your preparation to a whole new level.
Not to forget, we are doing all this at almost 1/2 the price of similar programs.
The goals we have set out to achieve are not easy. We want to spend more time talking to you, discussing your strategy and your level of preparedness. And we are nowhere near perfect. But we are evolving and strengthening our frameworks. In the coming days, you will see further fine-tuning of our initiatives.
Having said that, end of the day, our support has to be backed by ruthless efforts from you. You have to be consistent. We are always pushing our students to attempt tests, to be regular with lectures. Hopefully, such messages will put you back on track.
Good luck.
Categories
Essay Writing Open Test
As a part of our Essay Test Series, we are conducting an open test so students can get their hands dirty.
1. Submissions are open till Thursday (1 November 2018) midnight. The sooner you submit, the earlier it will be reviewed
2. The top 10 entries will be announced by next week
3. Vipul Shrivastava Sir, IPS will discuss top 10 entries, what they did well, what they didn’t in a video discussion
4. Submissions will be via comments (below this post)
5. As you can see, the topics are in line with the pattern asked this year.
Be innovative, make a point, get noticed
Topics here
Part A
1. If you want to test a man’s character, give him power
2. Should religion be limited to only private sphere
Part B
1. Should India adopt a more aggressive foreign policy
2. Virtual reality: Boon or Bane
View the detailed discussion of Test 1 of our Mains Guidance Program below
Here is the Question Paper of Test 1 for reference: Click2Download
Know all details about the course and join here: https://bit.ly/2yrFMr6
The only daily answer writing program that you’ll ever need. Under the aegis of Pritam Sir who has faced 3 UPSC interviews. Scored exceptionally well in all Essay and GS papers during his attempts.
Daily Answer Writing for Mains has always been a point of contention at Civilsdaily. Essentially, it suffered from the following issues that made it a bad deal for the students.
- Forming questions from today’s news – Questions asked in UPSC are generally on an overarching theme. Very rarely will you find a question based on just one single op-ed or news item.
- Repetition of questions – As an issue updates with time, the answers become obsolete. That is why it is more important to frame questions on issues when 3-4 articles have already been written on them.
Moreover, the issue that we see with other platforms is that they post similar questions every 2nd 3rd day. Follow the example at the end to understand what we are talking about
- Quality of both questions and answer checking – If we are making questions every day, they will not be intelligent. They will come directly from op-ed/news headings.
- The unreliability of peer reviews – Peer reviews cannot be relied upon and show a lot of variabilities. It is very important that you get feedback from someone experienced when it comes to your style, content, and presentation.
However, we have come to realize that many students do see a value in practicing questions every day. It keeps the momentum going and incrementally builds a database of questions and answers that can be used for Mains.
So we have tried to create a program that is truly effective.
1. We have roped in a UPSC Veteran.
2. We will ask 4 questions every day covering GS 1,2,3,4. Questions will cover both contemporary and static part. 1 question will be from ethics. Questions will not be specific or formed from op-ed titles. Instead, they will be broad-based aligned with the UPSC pattern.
3. There will be a guaranteed detailed review of the answers written by the paid subscribers. Review of free subscribers will depend on the time available with mentors. Priority will be given to students who engage in peer reviews.
4. Approach and Model answer to be published and will be accessible to all.
5. Dedicated telegram groups for doubts and monthly call post writing answers for paid subscribers.
6. Free Monthly AWE Magazine with questions and sample solutions.
Program Details
Duration of the Program: 10 months
15th October – 28th Feb (Phase 1) – We stop 3 months before prelims.
15th June – 31st August (Phase 2) – We stop a month before mains.
7 month program.
1. The program will operate on the Weekdays. Saturdays and Sundays will be off to allow students to contribute to other programs during the weekends.
2. Answers submitted after the last day of every month will not be considered for review. We do not guarantee when they will be reviewed but we will try to do so.
3. The program will start from the 5th of every month. 1st-4th will be kept to clear the backlog.
4. We will follow a monthly cycle. Meaning you enroll for a particular month. If you join on the 9th of December, you will have access to the month of December from the first day to the last day of December. It will *NOT* be from 9th December to 9th January. You will be expected to manage the time to submit the answers for the days you’ve missed.
5. Students joining after 25th of a particular month can opt for AWE for the next month. Meaning – if you join on 26th of November, you have the option of enrolling for the month of December(1st to last day of December). Students who join on the 23rd of November will have close to 18 days to submit all answers for the month of November. We believe it is a good enough time to clear the backlog.
6. We are committed to providing you reviews ASAP. But we will keep a 1-week deadline for students submitting their answers on the same day and a 2-week deadline for students submitting their answers late. This is to ensure that we don’t compromise on the quality just to stick to a deadline. It is better to get a proper review than to get a quicker review.
As you can see the focus of the programme will not be on the quantity but the quality of questions and model answers.
Monthly Rs. 1k + taxes: Click2Join
Yearly Rs 8K + taxes: Click2Join
(Comes out to be Rs. 13/review which is nothing for the time and effort our mentors will be putting in)
Example
On a well-known site, the question on data localization has been asked 5 times in the last 2-3 months.
Let us further illustrate our point with an example:
Superfluous Questions from the well-known website
Q.) What do you understand by data localisation? Discuss the importance of data localisation for India and analyze India’s present and proposed policies related to data localisation with respect to their effectiveness?
Q.) The debate on data localisation must not be reduced to a simple binary of whether data localisation is good or bad. Comment.
Repeated – Q.) What do you understand by data localisation? Discuss the importance of data localisation for India and analyze India’s present and proposed policies related to data localisation with respect to their effectiveness?
Our Selected Question?
Q.) What do you understand by Data localization? Recently Draft Data protection bill and Draft E-commerce policy has recommended localisation of data. Can data localization help protect Indian national and economic interests?
Essay Paper in UPSC can be tricky. It requires a mentor with both wide knowledge and a sense of what is expected by UPSC to score high marks.
Hence, we roped in Vipul Sir. He is serving as an IPS officer presently.
During his time, he had consistently scored the highest marks in Essay papers in consecutive attempts. He is extremely well read and his proximity to the government helps him identify key focus areas better than others.
He stays humble and down to earth always willing to help young aspirants achieve their dreams. We couldn’t have asked for a better mentor than him. His video on tips is as follows –
10% discount for all students joining on or before November 15
30% discount for CD Prime Prelims Test Series Subscribers
20% discount for other old students of our paid programs
Join Comprehensive Essay Guidance Program here: Click2Join
Join Sectional Tests Essay Guidance Program here: Click2Join
The importance of essays for the exam cannot be underscored.
While the performance of students is more or less the same in GS papers (especially 1,2,3), they have an excellent shot at scoring over 150+ in essays which could spearhead them to the top
Practicing essays can also be the best way to consolidate what you’ve read so far and make good revision notes helping you for both prelims and mains GS papers as well
Writing good essays can be very challenging. Time and again we’ve received many queries from students like
1. Reviews provide additional points but don’t address the inherent shortcomings and deficiency in my skills
2. Will reading ready-made sample essays help me prepare for essays?
3. Don’t know how to start an essay, how to organize one.
4. Can we do well in essays without practicing by re-using our GS paper knowledge alone?
5. Is there a universal format that I can stick to?
That’s why we’ve invested a great deal of energy to create a program the likes of which are offered by no one else
What are we offering and how is it unique?
We’ve innovated at every step of the process.
1. More precise topic selection
Our research tells us there are 8 broad themes of essays being asked since 2010.
1. Economy
2. Polity
3. Women Issues
4. Education
5. Science & Tech
6. Philosophy
7. IR
8. Miscellaneous
We plan to develop your competencies in each of these themes so you are extremely well prepared for the exam
We will have 14 tests in total where you will get to write 28 essays. 8 tests before prelims and 6 tests after prelims. The 8 tests will be theme-wise. So you would’ve covered all the themes before prelims.
2. An innovative methodology for reviews
Our biggest innovation lies in our review methodology.
Specific portions of your essay will be highlighted with symbols to indicate issues in essay writing
1. (X) Cross – FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS like judgments/strong postures which need to be avoided at all costs.
2. (*)Star -APPRECIATION for uniqueness.
3. STRUCTURE is not maintained. Issues with Language and expression.
4. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS for candidates.
Along with this, Sir will also leave specific reviews on strengths and weaknesses
Other institutes suggest additional points which can be googled by the student himself or point out superficial flaws like not sticking to the topic. They don’t necessarily highlight the shortcomings in the essay. This adds very little value to students. We go much beyond that and help students fix major flaws in their essays.
3. Sample Structure, video solutions and personalized attention.
Sir will discuss the topic in considerable depth, appropriate structure, pitfalls to avoid, etc.
Along with that, Sir will also discuss copies presenting different styles in which the essays could be attempted
This component of the program is the most important.
Students have an incorrect impression that going through a sample essay will somehow help them write better essays. This is absolutely incorrect
While this strategy works for GS because there is a good chance of the question being repeated, with essays it is not true. You have to understand that the broader theme of the essay might be similar but the topics are always unique and require to be tackled differently.
To develop your competency in tackling different topics, you have to be able to come up with appropriate structures This aspect of the program addresses this issue
The expectation from you would be that you study the solutions in detail and try to address the shortcomings in your essays. Should doubts still persist, contact us and we will help get them resolved.
4. Good essay copies
You will be provided with good essay copies to serve as sample answers. This is a better alternative than sample answers which are hastily written and at times not updated with the latest figures.
5. Improvement tracking excel
Your essays will be marked on the following parameters.
- Comprehension of the topic
- Language and Expression
- Structure and Organisation of thought.
- Objectivity and Biases. Balance of perception
- Attitude whether learner or judgmental
- Focus and attention
- Content and Source matter, Knowledge and information processing capability
- Ability to forge links in an interdisciplinary manner
- The simplicity of disposition
- Observational Skills
We’d suggest students maintain a copy of the following excel sheet and keep a track of their performance. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12A0G3ypGls8J4tAzcvvg9bKol3vnqPuEj60Ap0E8yp4/edit?usp=sharing
6. Besides these, you will be given the following
>CD Current Affairs Monthly Magazines.
>Any additional material that we release for essays.
What will be the program structure?
Total of 14 tests (28 essays)
The program starts on 27th October.
Paper will be made live every Saturday.
Before Prelims – 8 Tests (16 essays)
-The first round of 4 tests will have topics from previous year papers that have relevance even today. This will establish your baseline performance.
-It is very important that you understand the uniqueness of topics and expectation of the essays. No better way than to attempt previous year questions and get them reviewed.
-Our reviews will help you deepen your understanding of the Essay Paper.
The time-table is as follows
27 Oct
17 Nov
8 Dec
29 Dec
19 Jan
2nd Feb
16 Feb
2nd Mar
After Prelims – 6 Tests (12 essays)
-On topics with the highest probability of appearing in the exam
We made the decision simpler for you
10% discount for all students joining on or before November 15
30% discount for CD Prime Prelims Test Series Subscribers
20% discount for other old students of our paid programs
Join Comprehensive Essay Guidance Program here (14k + taxes): Click2Join
Join Sectional Tests Essay Guidance Program here (8k + taxes): Click2Join
Categories
App is down for Maintenance
Hi All,
Apologies for the inconvenience . The mobile app is down for routine maintenance.
We will be back in 4-5 hours.
We request you to please hold on for few hours and use website until we are back.
View the schedule for covering backlog of the previously held tests here: Click2View
We are delighted to launch Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly Program for 2018-2019. All the students who were not able to join the first batch of the program and were waiting for next 6 months batch can join this yearly batch and cover up the tests and CA portion already covered and also get in sync with the program schedule. This will also help students get entire year CA at one place instead of two separate batches.
The course is designed to help you develop a solid command on your newspaper reading and current affairs analyzing skills. Since it builds your core, it is important for both prelims and mains.
10% discount for all students joining before 25th October (Date of start of yearly batch 2)
Prime Students get their usual discount of 30%
Join Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (with Answer Writing Module) here: Click2Join
Join Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (only videos and notes) here: Click2Join
For any queries, mail us on hello@civilsdaily.com or message on Whatsapp on 89299-87787
What are we offering and how is it unique?
1. Mentorship and guidance taken to a whole new level
Once you enroll, you’ll be assigned a Telegram group headed by Sajal Sir and rankers like Dr. Vipin Garg AIR 20, Swapnil Pawar AIR 525 and others. Our past students have found this immensely beneficial.
- A convenient way to resolve your doubts and queries.
- You’ll be provided with value-added material which is very important.
- You’ll have an ecosystem to study and learn from.
- Above all, it will help you stay focused every day.
Here’s what some of our students had to say about our mentorship. 
2. 4 stage structure of Video->Notes->testing->review to perfect your preparation The sequence of video->Notes->testing->review is the best way to ensure maximum retention and a rock solid preparation. Each component of the program has been meticulously crafted.
3. Our video lectures and notes on weekly CA are brief but comprehensive Packed 2 lectures of 2 hours each on a Weekly basis (1 on Sunday & 1 on Tuesday) which will focus on news and its importance from both prelims and mains perspective. We understand that the UPSC exam is a generalist exam.
It’s important to cover more issues than to cover one issue in more depth. Hence, we maintain a fine balance of covering cover many important news items and have a detailed discussion on selected topics which require the same. This program will also help you understand how to utilize current affairs in all your prelims and mains papers. This ideology makes this course the best utilization of your time.
Here’s what some of our students had to say about the lectures.
4. Guest Lectures on specific issues by UPSC Toppers and other expert faculties Besides the above, you will have access to our monthly magazines and weekly notes/links to important news/external material. You will have access to all modules included in our Mentorship program – Study-plan, strategy discussion, specific weaknesses, overall guidance. Since our mentors will have information about your performance
5. Weekly Mains Test and Evaluation by our team of subject experts The video and notes will be followed by a test released every weekend. It will have 10 high-quality questions. This will complete your study loop and enhance your retention. >Mains level questions with feedback. Sample review is attached.
> Answer Enhancement We chose the Question & Answer format because it is perfectly aligned with the requirements of the exam. Having information is very different from presenting it in an answer with a proper structure. This will help in better retention of prelims specific information and prepare a solid ground for your mains prep. After every 2nd test you attempt, you can reach out to our mentors for personalized feedback.
6. Current Affairs Monthly Prelims Test package This was a feedback we received from many students. They wanted appropriate focus on the current affairs program.
We are also providing 10 Prelims CA tests along with this package.
Join Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (with Answer Writing Module) here: Click2Join
Join Batch 2 of Samachar Manthan Yearly 2018-19 (only videos and notes) here: Click2Join
10% discount for all students joining before 25th October (Date of start of yearly batch 2)
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In GS 4, close to 9 out of 13 questions from Section A came from our 3 Full-Length-Tests. We obviously couldn’t predict the precise quotes and generic questions, but our students could easily attempt those.
*These are not solutions but pointers/line of thought to be followed.
**Please do not look for a precise 1-1 match between the UPSC paper and our Test Series. The comparison is there to help you get a feel of the approach we follow while designing questions in our TS.
***In the comments section, let us know interesting points along with the reasons that could enrich these answers.
Section A
1) (a) State the three basic values, universal in nature, in the context of civil services and bring out their importance. (150 words) 10
Various questions have been asked in our tests on a similar theme. We have provided reviews asking students to quote committees, contemporary examples, quotes to highlight the importance and score maximum marks.
You could easily score 7+ marks if you had gone through our solutions + feedback on answers.
Round1 GS4
2. Examine the relevance of the following in the context of civil service citing examples. (10 Marks)
a)Probity
b)Taking Accountability
c)Delegation
d)Developing Others
e)Consultation and Consensus Building
Round2 GS4
1.a. Accountability is the need of the hour for Civil Servants. Analyze. (10 marks)
(b) Distinguish between “Code of ethics” and “Code of conduct” with suitable examples.
Round2 GS4
5.a. What is the difference between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. Should Code of Ethics be preferred over Code of Conduct? (150 words) 10
Should Code of Ethics be preferred over Code of Conduct? – asked in our TS directly. Our TS question was more nuanced and required critical analysis. On the contrary, the actual exam question was quite simple.
Approach
Start by defining Code of Conduct first. It is a set of instructions that ensure
Say it is being governed by All India Services (Conduct) Rules,1968
https://www.civilsdaily.com/reforms-needed-in-civil-services-2nd-arc-report-and-other-committee-recommendations/
2) (a) What is mean by public interest? What are the principles and procedures to be followed by the civil servants in public interest? (150 words) 10
Many case-studies involving a conflict of interest between public interest and private interests.
(b) “The Right to Information Act is not all about citizens’ empowerment alone, it essentially redefines the concept of accountability. Discuss. (150 words) 10
A case study of RTI was asked in our TS. No specific question was asked.
3) (a) What is meant by conflict of interest? Illustrate with examples, the difference between the actual and potential conflicts of interest. (150 words) 10
There are many case studies on conflict of interest across the 3 tests explicitly mentioning the term. This would’ve given you a fair idea of conflict of interest and also helped you come up with very effective examples for both actual and potential conflicts of interest.
Approach
Define conflict of interest
Conflict of interest refers to conflicts between one’s professional responsibilities as a public servant or as a member of an organization and ones private interests as an individual. They are the most obvious examples of an ethical dilemma.
An actual conflict of interest –
You are in the interview board of a selection committee. Your family member is appearing for the same interview.
This scenario represents an actual conflict of interest. Your responsibilities demand you to demonstrate neutrality. However, with your family member being present it is going to be very difficult to do the same.
conflict of interest can be managed appropriately by recusal (withdrawal) – that is, by having another official temporarily sit in the interview panel.
potential conflicts of interest
A “potential conflict of interest” is different from actual conflict of interest in the sense that they may arise at some time in the future.
If a person agrees to give a contract to a party without holding competitive budding and justifying it on grounds of superior technology/first come first serve, etc.
The person might not have gained anything from the contract. The contractor might not be known to the person. But following the above process gives rise to a potential conflict of interest.
At the same time, many situations might seem like conflicts of interest but are actually not. Eg. If you are a teacher and you see your son cheating, it should seem like a conflict of interest but it is not. Punishing your son, not treating him differently from other students will help him evolve as someone more responsible and aware of what needs to be done.
(b) “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they do not have the first, the other two will kill you.” – Warren Buffett
What do you understand by this statement in the present-day scenario? Explain. (150 words) 10
We asked a question on Probity but not Integrity. Probity is a more difficult term to bluff around, hence we stressed on that. The question talks about the importance of integrity. At the same time, it is asking you to discuss in the present-day context.
Approach
Integrity not only means upholding the values of public or private service like honesty, decency, frankness, fairness but also ensuring that consistency is maintained in exercising these values. It ensures reliability and establishes one as trustworthy. If one has acted in a certain manner, then it is more likely that he/she will repeat it. ARC expands the meaning of the concept of the integrity of public servants need to be amplified. While financial integrity is one element of it, functional integrity and a high level of efficiency at work are equally important.
The above statement highlights the importance of integrity. It says that without it, intelligence and energy can be detrimental to an organization and the person himself.
An intelligent and energetic man is capable enough to do unethical tasks and tricks a system. Without integrity, he is more likely to do so.
Take the eg. of Mallya or Nirav Modi. Both intelligent and energetic businessmen who have built their empires. Unfortunately, they lacked integrity and hence it proved dangerous both of them and the country.
Hence, integrity holds primacy over all other values. Hiring someone smart might seem like the right thing to do in the short run.
4) (a) “In doing a good thing, everything is permitted which is not prohibited expressly or by clear implication”. Examine the statement with suitable examples in the context of a public servant discharging his/her duties. (150 words) 10
Approach
The question focuses on widespread discretion a public servant enjoys and yet they have become more cautious in discharging their duties and taking risks due to the 4Cs – CVC, Courts, CBI, CAG.
Laws and rulebooks lay down broad-based restrictions. They can neither cover all circumstances as it is impossible to foresee them nor can they be very detailed to become restrictive in scope.
Hence, everything outside the restrictions is permitted.
A civil servant should use his good judgment to ensure that he does his public duty and works in the best interest of the public even if it involves the fear of coming under scrutiny by the 4Cs. His aim should not be to keep himself away from any controversy and unforeseen legal hassles.
Eg. Tamil Nadu IAS officer had pointed out the lapses in urban planning and construction which led to his transfer. Once urban flooding happened, he stood vindicated.
Similarly, the courts giving relief to upright IAS officers of UP and Bihar in discharging their duties highlight the great work done by them.
The need of the hour is civil servants taking quick decisions, ensuring that files and proposals are not stuck and evolving effective means for private sector participation.
(b) With regard to the morality of actions, one view is that means is of paramount importance and the other view is that the ends justify the means. Which view do you think is more appropriate? Justify your answer. (150 words) 10
The same question with more complex wordings was asked in our test. Go through it and our model answer provided in our TS. We have further left reviews highlighting concepts of Absolutism
Round 1 GS 4
6. a. Is it as much of a mistake to define ‘right action’ as to define ‘good consequence’? (10)
Model Answer for the TS
The above statement captures the essence of consequentialist and deontological approaches. Consequentialism talks of a good consequence regardless of whether the action was right or wrong. It say ends justify means. Deontological view talks of the right action regardless of the end consequence. Meaning, end is not important, it’s more important to follow the right path. As an eg. – the Utilitarian perspective is consequentialist while Kant’s categorical imperative is deontological. Both theories have their flaws. Utilitarian perspective is only concerned with the greatest happiness of the greatest number. If killing a person gave happiness to 100 other people, it would be just to execute that one person. On the other hand, Kant’s categorical imperative would condemn lying but there are many instances where lying can save one’s life. So it cannot be universally applied.
From the above, we cannot say that defining ‘right action’ is a mistake and ‘good consequence’ should have primacy. There cannot be a narrative that can be universally applied. Their applicability depends on a case by case scenario. Gandhi was of the opinion that not only are the ends important but so are the means. It is not enough to fight for freedom but to have Dharma on our side which means right action. This implies that the right action and good consequence need not be in contradiction. They cannot be seen in dichotomous terms. A harmonious synthesis of the two is always possible and one should always think of solutions that do justice to both means and ends.
5) (a) Suppose the Government of India is thinking of constructing a dam in a mountain valley bond by forests and inhabited by ethnic communities. What rational policy should it resort to in dealing with unforeseen contingencies (150 words) 10
Question on EIA. Elaborate on the points below –
Screening often results in the categorization of the project and from this a decision is made on whether or not a full EIA is to be carried out. Here I’ll decide that a full EIA is be carried out.
Scoping is the process of determining which are the most critical issues to study.
Here I’ll ensure community participation. Come up with a detailed analysis of the impact of constructing the Dam.
-List of People who are affected by the project will be drawn and they need to hear about it as soon as possible.
-The impact on the environment, flora, and fauna of the region will have to be laid out.
-The costs to the government will be communicated.
If the community agrees with the project design and are ready to accept the terms offered by the government, we will move ahead. Else changes in design of the project, looking at alternate venues will be considered and the same step will be repeated.
Detailed prediction and mitigation studies follow scoping and are carried out in parallel with feasibility studies.
The main output report is called an Environmental Impact Statement and contains a detailed plan for managing and monitoring environmental impacts both during and after implementation.
Finally, an audit of the EIA process is carried out sometime after implementation. The audit serves a useful feedback and learning function.
(b) Explain the process of resolving ethical dilemmas in Public Administration. (150 words) 10
Throughout our test series, we have tested on your knowledge of attempting questions around virtue ethics, consequentialist ethics and deontological ethics. Utilitarian, Kantian, Gandhian principles.
This question primarily wanted to assess your understanding of the above theories and their limitations and understand that they need to be applied on a case by case basis.
6) What do each of the following quotations mean to you in the present context?
(a) “The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject anything, is not whether it has any evil in it; but whether it has more evil than good. There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. Almost everything, especially of governmental policy, is an inseparable compound of the two; so that our best judgement of the preponderance between them is continually demanded. ”Abraham Lincoln ( 150 words)10
(b) “Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. “ _ Mahatma Gandhi (150 words) 10
Since a question on intolerance has been so common, we tried to ask a more difficult question on dissent.
Round 2 GS4
2.a. What do you understand by dissent and why is it important for a democracy. With examples explain why dissent needs more focus in India?
Approach
In this question talk about how emotional intelligence is hit if you are angry and intolerance. Hence it distorts our understanding of self and the environment, makes us draw wrong conclusions.
Provide relevant examples.
In the model answer, we had provided quotes that could’ve been used here –
Voltaire had remarked – I might disapprove of what you say but defend to death your right to say so. We as individuals, society and a country have to realise this.
Such tolerance can help us understand different perspectives to arrive at a more correct, accurate understanding.
(c) “Falsehood takes the place of truth when it results in unblemished common good.” _ Tirukkural (150 words)10
Approach
The above quote is similar to Gita’s quote that one lie spoken to benefit someone is greater than 100 truths.
Talk of consequentialism. That ends justify the means.
Counter by proposing deontological ethics.
Finally saying both means and ends are necessary. Lying to achieve ends might not always be a preferred way.
Check out GS 1 Solutions here –
https://www.civilsdaily.com/upsc-mains-2018-gs-paper-1-solutions-sample-structures-and-repeated-questions/
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Know more about our Mains Guidance Program 2019 and join here: https://www.civilsdaily.com/mains-ts-2019/