Program starting from the second week of December.
UPSC CSE Mains 2021 will be conducted on January 2022 and is hardly a month away. It’s time to practice a lot of test series and revise the topics.
We, at Civilsdaily rose to the occasion and have prepared consolidated notes of the 250 most important topics of Mains 2021. Each topic will have 2-3 pages of notes of material from the standard books and current affairs. They will also have relevant factual data and statistics highlighted in bold for every topic that will help you provide a solid introduction and conclusion.
And the best news is…. all of this is absolutely free for all Mains selected candidates! Just fill the form right now to request the QEP material and we will get in touch with you with ASAP.
How Quality Assessment Program be useful right now?
You might be wondering, with just a month away is it wise to register for any program right now, even for free? You don’t have to worry. The Quality Assessment Program is not new information. It’s consolidated revision notes from the standard books and current affairs of UPSC-CSE Mains.
Our initiative last year of compiling issues and topics that had a high probability of being asked in Mains 2020was a thumping success– our toppers said they greatly benefitted from it. One such topper, Lakshay Chowdhary was gracious enough to give us a video testimonial.
Questions in 2020 Mains came from topics we covered like Pala period, Circum-Pacific zone, Online Education in India, Criminalization in Politics, 16 years of RTI, Microfinance etc.
Coverage of topics in QEP will have one and only one purpose – to enable you to write great answers for any question from a particular topic. To be able to write a convincing 250 words answer for a topic, you need to know atleast 1-2 pages of content for it.
At this point in time studying everything is not desirable neither is it feasible. You don’t have time to read everything, segregate what is important and what’s not, make notes, cover different dimensions, and then find a way to utilize that. What you need at this point in time is efficient and organized coverage of the most relevant topics for the IAS mains exam. With QEP we aim to help you achieve all this.
QEP or Quality Enrichment Program is an intensive and holistic program for IAS Mains 2021 GS papers. We aim to cover 250+ most relevant issues with a 360-degree view, covering all dimensions of each and every topic. Not only you’ll learn and analyze these issues but will also understand how to utilize them via Daily Answer Writing and Mains Test Series.
Topic-Wise Current Affairs From An Issue Perspective
Current affairs in the IAS mains exam must be covered from an ‘issue perspective’ and almost all of them have multiple dimensions to it, various stakeholders involved, have interconnectedness, and can be solved with a multipronged approach only. This should reflect in your answers.
QEP will help you enrich your pre-existing coverage and will add quality to it. With tests and mentorship, you will get an evaluation and necessary course correction. And we will provide daily answer writing to help you sharpen your answer writing skills and knowledge with our daily initiatives on Habitat.
Excluding your optional subject, we will be providing topic-wise notes from all the other GS papers for free. This includes Ethics case studies as well!
What are some of the topics that will be covered in Quality Assessment Program?
Unlike Prelims, Mains examinations are lesser dynamic. That’s why we have QEP for Mains and not Prelims. We are not like other dubious institutes who claimed to have figured out the exact paper pattern of Mains 2021. But if you put 2 &2 together, you will know that every paper has nearly 40 topics and we are covering 35 of the most important topics from every paper for Free! (Optional Subjects and Language papers are not included)
Here are 10 of the most important topics we will be covering
1. Scrapping of ease of doing Business ranking
2. Retrospective taxation in India :Issues and Challenges
The Summit between India and Russia marks the 21st Annual Summit between the two countries after the 2+2 dialogue.
This will be the first in-person meeting of the Russian President and PM Modi after 2019.
It is in continuation of the tradition of Annual Summits alternately in India and Russia.
The 2+2 Dialogue
It is a strategic conversation between the defense and the foreign ministries of two countries having diplomatic relations.
India now has a 2+2 format dialogue mechanism on strategic and security issues with four of its key strategic partners, Russia being the latest.
The three others — Australia, the US and Japan — are also ‘Quad’ partners.
2+2 Dialogue with Russia
Russia is one of those countries with which a 2+2 format talk “fits perfectly” in India’s foreign policy.
To be sure, the India-Russia 2+2 do have a particularly strong signaling component when seen against the backdrop of the S400 controversy.
It can be read as a reminder to Washington that the S400 deal and broader India-Russia defense cooperation will continue, regardless of US concerns.
Expected outcomes of this Summit
There is a propensity towards the signing of agreements between India and Russia in areas of Defence, Trade, Energy and also Space Technology.
The Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics (RELOS) Agreement is expected to be signed between the two countries.
Both nations have agreed for the manufacture of over six lakh AK-203 assault rifles by a Joint Venture, Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd, at Korwa, Amethi, in UP.
Both countries will take an attempt to deepen their collaboration with a primary focus on regional security concerns with the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
India-Russia Relations: A backgrounder
The relations between Russia and India are an important and privileged strategic partnership.
The relationship began with a visit by Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru to the Soviet Union in June 1955.
During the Cold War, India and the Soviet Union (USSR) had a strong strategic, military, economic and diplomatic relationship.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia inherited its close relationship with India resulted in the special relationship.
The Partnership
Traditionally, the Indo-Russian strategic partnership has been built on five major components: politics, defense, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism cooperation and space.
(1) Strategic Relations
India is the second-largest market for the Russian defence industry.
In 2017, approximately 68% of the Indian Military’s hardware import came from Russia, making Russia the chief supplier of defence equipment.
It has rose above a buyer-seller relationship with the joint ventures projects.
(2) Economic Relations
Bilateral trade between both countries is concentrated in key value-chain sectors.
These sectors include highly diversified segments such as machinery, electronics, aerospace, automobile, commercial shipping, chemicals, pharmaceuticals etc.
Both countries set a target of reaching US$30 billion in bilateral trade by 2025.
Energy sector is another important area in Indo-Russian bilateral relations.
Recent trends in bilateral ties
Despite the best efforts, divergences grew in the bilateral relationships as the underlying structural changes in the international environment are pulling the two nations apart.
(1) Bilateral divergence
While the top leadership of the two nations have continued to engage with each other, divergences have been cropping up with disturbing regularity.
For India, what should be concerning is Russia’s increasing tilt towards Pakistan as it seeks to curry favour with China.
Moscow had historically supported India at the UNSC by repeatedly vetoing resolutions on the Kashmir issue.
(2) Military-Defence Complexes
Strains are becoming apparent as India moves further along the path of military indigenization and import diversification.
India’s procurement from the US and France has also been seen as a heated divergence between the two.
This was a result of the unreliability of Russian supplies, as manifested in late arrivals, defective parts, and perennial conflicts overpricing and warranties.
(3) Cultural Vacuum
On an everyday level, while India films and yoga are popular in Russia, no parallel exposure to any aspect of Russian popular culture exists among Indians.
This is the most woefully neglected aspect of their relationship, suffering on both sides from lack of funding and, no less important, a shortage of political will.
Another aspect of ties is tourism which could be much more vigorous between the two countries than present India’s US affinity
(4) India-US ties
India’s engagement with the US addresses its core concerns regarding regional security.
The signing of the long-awaited Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) is set to elevate the bilateral defence partnership and give India access to advance US defence systems.
A closer engagement with the US is a challenge for India, as this relationship is not likely to be a partnership of equals, for the foreseeable future.
Significance of ties
(1) Russia needs India as
Ukraine conquest: A market for its goods to bypass Western sanctions imposed after its power push in Ukraine.
Countering China: Despite its renewed friendship with China, Russia will soon find itself in competition with it as Beijing regards itself as the new G2 along with the US.
Against US hegemony: India can help provide the multi-polarity that Russia fiercely seeks.
(2) India needs Russia because
Energy security: An area of special interest for India is the exploration of hydrocarbon reserves along the coast of Russia’s Far East where India has decided to extend a $1 billion Line of Credit.
Space collaboration: Despite expanding its purchases from the US, Israel and Europe, India still needs to collaborate with Russia to master future technology including for space.
Defence purchases: It improves India’s bargaining power when it negotiates arms sales with the West.
Indian exports: Russia can be a major market for Indian industry such as pharmaceuticals, manufactured goods, dairy products, bovine meat and frozen seafood.
Geopolitical importance: Russia continues to be a balancing force against any designs China and Pakistan may have in our region.
UNSC ambitions: New Delhi needs Moscow’s support in the former’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Way forward
The recent comprehensive U.S.-India Strategic 2+2 Dialogue is a model to follow.
There should be more meetings at the highest state level, regular annual reports on the progress of the working groups, and reinvigorated interactions.
India’s cores strength is that it follows an independent foreign policy.
On its long way to become a global power, it will likely have to follow a zigzag course, balancing between American demands, long-term friendship with Russia and its own strategic necessities.
Program starting from the second week of December.
UPSC CSE Mains 2021 will be conducted on January 2022 and is hardly a month away. It’s time to practice a lot of test series and revise the topics.
We, at Civilsdaily rose to the occasion and have prepared consolidated notes of the 250 most important topics of Mains 2021. Each topic will have 2-3 pages of notes of material from the standard books and current affairs. They will also have relevant factual data and statistics highlighted in bold for every topic that will help you provide a solid introduction and conclusion.
And the best news is…. all of this is absolutely free for all Mains selected candidates! Just fill the form right now to request the QEP material and we will get in touch with you with ASAP.
How Quality Assessment Program be useful right now?
You might be wondering, with just a month away is it wise to register for any program right now, even for free? You don’t have to worry. The Quality Assessment Program is not new information. It’s consolidated revision notes from the standard books and current affairs of UPSC-CSE Mains.
Our initiative last year of compiling issues and topics that had a high probability of being asked in Mains 2020was a thumping success– our toppers said they greatly benefitted from it. One such topper, Lakshay Chowdhary was gracious enough to give us a video testimonial.
Questions in 2020 Mains came from topics we covered like Pala period, Circum-Pacific zone, Online Education in India, Criminalization in Politics, 16 years of RTI, Microfinance etc.
Coverage of topics in QEP will have one and only one purpose – to enable you to write great answers for any question from a particular topic. To be able to write a convincing 250 words answer for a topic, you need to know atleast 1-2 pages of content for it.
At this point in time studying everything is not desirable neither is it feasible. You don’t have time to read everything, segregate what is important and what’s not, make notes, cover different dimensions, and then find a way to utilize that. What you need at this point in time is efficient and organized coverage of the most relevant topics for the IAS mains exam. With QEP we aim to help you achieve all this.
QEP or Quality Enrichment Program is an intensive and holistic program for IAS Mains 2021 GS papers. We aim to cover 250+ most relevant issues with a 360-degree view, covering all dimensions of each and every topic. Not only you’ll learn and analyze these issues but will also understand how to utilize them via Daily Answer Writing and Mains Test Series.
Topic-Wise Current Affairs From An Issue Perspective
Current affairs in the IAS mains exam must be covered from an ‘issue perspective’ and almost all of them have multiple dimensions to it, various stakeholders involved, have interconnectedness, and can be solved with a multipronged approach only. This should reflect in your answers.
QEP will help you enrich your pre-existing coverage and will add quality to it. With tests and mentorship, you will get an evaluation and necessary course correction. And we will provide daily answer writing to help you sharpen your answer writing skills and knowledge with our daily initiatives on Habitat.
Excluding your optional subject, we will be providing topic-wise notes from all the other GS papers for free. This includes Ethics case studies as well!
What are some of the topics that will be covered in Quality Assessment Program?
Unlike Prelims, Mains examinations are lesser dynamic. That’s why we have QEP for Mains and not Prelims. We are not like other dubious institutes who claimed to have figured out the exact paper pattern of Mains 2021. But if you put 2 &2 together, you will know that every paper has nearly 40 topics and we are covering 35 of the most important topics from every paper for Free! (Optional Subjects and Language papers are not included)
Here are 10 of the most important topics we will be covering
1. Scrapping of ease of doing Business ranking
2. Retrospective taxation in India :Issues and Challenges
Smriti Chetna is a student of Civilsdaily mentor Ravi sir. She joined the Ultimate Assessment Program (UAP) on 18 August 2020. As she is happy with Civilsdaily, she has now upgraded to UAP 2022.
You can also get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the formnow. An expert mentor will reach out to you in the next 24 hours.
Initially, Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation but found Mains to be manageable. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 70 marks out of 250 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
Smriti Chetna: “Believe in yourself, Believe in your dream and Surround yourself with those who Believe you can achieve your dream“.
We had a chance to catch up with Civilsdaily student and aspiring civil servant, Smriti. In between her college studies and UPSC CSE preparation, we were able to have a quick 15 minute chat with her.
Smriti, what has motivated you to prepare for UPSC as a college student?
My father is a government officer and we have discussions (sometimes, even debates) over dinner on how we can improve systemic changes that impede the growth of our country. From this, I have realized that as a country we do have the laws, money, resources and manpower for high growth. What’s lacking is the right execution. Only government and civil servants can do this. Though my dad is not an IAS officer, I have seen him bring changes in whatever capacity he is allowed. When I was in school, our chief guests on annual days were IAS or IPS officers. Their inspiring speeches and my dad’s work has what interested me to prepare for UPSC.
Why do you think mentorship is very important for your UPSC-CSE preparation?
I think its important for every aspirant to be in the right company when they are preparing for this unpredictable and tedious exam. They need to believe in your preparation as much as you do. Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants, that’s when Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end support.
You found prelims to be difficult initially, why so? How has Ravi sir mentored you for prelims?
I was not good at remembering the exact factual data. I have done UPSC-CSE prelims paper analysis from 2018-2021. I must say, the Civilsdaily prelims test series are at the same level and some of them are even tougher than the actual UPSC-CSE paper. I have also personally checked if the subject-wise test series covers all the topics in the syllabus. There are 4-5 questions even from topics that aspirants consider to have lesser weightage. Under Ravi sir’s mentorship, I learnt to pay attention to stats and figures for prelims. He also helped me with the different elimination techniques I can use to get the right answer. Samachar Manthan is my favorite aspect of the Ultimate Assessment Program. The current affairs is neatly consolidated topic-wise from The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, RSTV, Yojana and Kurukshetra. It’s a good material to revise your current affairs 3-4 months before the exam. The more tests I take, the lesser fears and anxiety I have about the upcoming UPSC-CSE exam. I get value-added materials, coaching notes and online classes from Civilsdaily as well.
How was your preparation 1-2 weeks into UAP and how is it now?
When I started out, I used to take 2-3 months to complete a standard book. However, I would still not have my concepts clear. Right now in my third revision, I am able to complete the entire Laxmikanth book in one week. With respect to mains answer writing, I never used to answer all the keywords of the questions. Now, I am able to organise an answer in my mind as I answer it. After evaluating my answers, Ravi sir would give me a call where he would discuss where I could have included diagrams or flowcharts and the other sources I can refer for better answers on a topic.
I always feel as a beginner, you have to be easy on yourself. Don’t write off UPSC CSE, just because you did not understand the concepts on Day 01.
What’s more important for a UPSC Aspirant — Intelligence or Consistency?
Few of my friends who started at the same time as me, performed much better in tests and had more knowledge on a topic than I did. But now, they are not interested in preparing for the examination anymore. I would definitely rank consistency over intelligence.
I can give another example from my own preparation. As I am pursuing a BA degree in History, I find the UPSC history subject to be easy. However, Geography was a subject I grappled with in the initial few months. After a solid two years of preparation, I am scoring equal marks in Geography and History. This is only due to consistency.
Are group studies detrimental or useful for your UPSC preparation?
Group studies online, especially the way Civilsdaily has structured it, removes the cons generally associated with group studies. When we study with our friends, we generally do for an hour or so before hanging out at a joint and chit-chatting. That does not happen over here. We explain concepts that we are not clear about to each other, sometimes share links of important reading material. When you are able to make another person understand a concept, you feel more positive about yourself.
Any final advice you would like to give to beginners?
Always go through the videos oftoppers who have given multiple attempts before clearing the exams. Because, what has worked for others might not work for you, but what has not worked for others will also not work for you. I understood how important it was to study for your optional subject everyday after watching these videos.
What is Ravi sir’s mentorship all about which boosted Smriti’s confidence & marks nearly 2x times?Let’s hear him talk about it.
Smriti used to consult multiple mentors in other institutes but now she only prefers the mentorship of Civilsdaily. What’s unique about the mentorship of Civilsdaily?
After talking to other students, I learnt that the mentors in other institutes are egoistic and have a ‘know-it-all’ attitude. They often demotivate students for what they call as ‘silly mistakes’. They even go to the extent of predicting if a student is likely to clear UPSC or not. But in Civilsdaily, mentors believe in working like a GPS. We understand what direction the student is in right now and tell them the closest route they can take to complete the syllabus and score marks in their tests. We are nobody to judge a learner. That’s why aspirants like Smriti prefer Civilsdaily mentorship.
Smriti is a very passionate and hardworking student, but I noticed that she would take study breaks that lasted more than a month or two. This didn’t deter me from putting across reminders to her. I believe that a mentor shouldn’t stop encouraging an aspirant in the initial months even if they don’t show the inclination to prepare. The syllabus is vast and overwhelming and it’s understandable that a beginner can get demotivated.
Due to this, Smriti gradually opened up to me about her issues. I understood that she gets panic attacks and it would take her nearly 2-3 weeks to recover. I decided that as a mentor, I had to be empathetic and sensitive to her issues and not brush them aside. Smriti often felt guilty about her study breaks and I assured her that it was okay to take a break as she deserved one. I asked her to hang out with her friends and family more often and go on a walk in the park with them. Over a period of time, Smriti could recover from a panic attack in 2-3 days instead of 2-3 weeks.
I then started giving her weekly targets to achieve and congratulated her upon successful completion in the study group. I would assign her a topic to read and ask her to explain the same to me. I would let her teach me those topics. When she missed out points, I would immediately tell her why adding a certain point will help her in the exam. After this, I even asked her to conduct few sessions on Habitat for other learners. This made her confident to continue her preparation.
Let’s get into the specifics, what are other methods you used to mentor Smriti on a day-to-day basis?
All of my test-series, whether prelims or mains are conducted on Zoom with the camera on so that I can monitor the students. This will discourage a student from taking unnecessary breaks and they will only utilize the three hours to answer questions.
When she had taken the Mains test series of other institutes, Smriti would take 5-6 hours to complete all questions. Over here, she finishes a test-series within the stipulated time of 3 hours.
Besides this, when a student starts studying I will ask them to say ‘Hi’ . When they are taking a break they need to say ‘Bye’ and when they resume their studies they need to say ‘Hi’ once again. At the end of the day, I would calculate the number of hours they spent studying and let them know the same. I never used to judge them for studying less. It’s like how a fitness tracker works. Whoever is interested in completing 1000 steps in a day will compensate for the next day if they are unable to achieve today’s target. This pushed Smriti to study for long hours.
While initially, she could not study for more than two hours everyday, now she studies for 8 hours without a break (12 hours with breaks). This is something she does by her own interest without me insisting her to follow it.
We have heard about the virtual library in your mentorship. What is that?
Virtual library is a practice wherein the student gets their study materials, logs in to a zoom session with other aspirants. All of them study silently. On the go, I share any extra reports or current affairs articles they have to read along with their standard books. While studying, if any student has a doubt they can ask in the session and it will be resolved.
Sometimes, our virtual library will be divided into small study group of 3-4 members who will all study the same topic together and discuss the aspects of the topic to each other. This is to prevent the aspirant from feeling lonely in their long preparation journey. Many students have reacted positively to this initiative as well, they get a sense of companionship and competitiveness when they are studying as a group.
What are few of the topics which students find difficult?
Economy is a subject where most of the students grapple with. I get a lot of doubts on topics like RBI, security market and bonds.
We have asked Smriti as well, but we want your take on this. What do you think of Smriti’s performance in the past 10 months?
She is a consistent performer. Though, initially she had scored only 30 out of 250 marks in GS Essay, now she is scoring above 100+ in all the mains test series. I am confident if she maintains the same consistency she can clear the exam in 2022.
That being said, I feel she can score better in mains. While evaluating her papers, I understood she is not including relevant factual data to back up her answers. I will be providing her committee reports and recommendations and mentor her in this direction from now on.
Get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the form below —
GS-1 Factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India).
GS-2 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
GS-3 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
GS-4 Probity in Governance: Information sharing and_ transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption
HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.
You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.
Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.
Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.
If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis
If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.
We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.
*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*.
Program starting from the second week of December.
UPSC CSE Mains 2021 will be conducted on January 2022 and is hardly a month away. It’s time to practice a lot of test series and revise the topics.
We, at Civilsdaily rose to the occasion and have prepared consolidated notes of the 250 most important topics of Mains 2021. Each topic will have 2-3 pages of notes of material from the standard books and current affairs. They will also have relevant factual data and statistics highlighted in bold for every topic that will help you provide a solid introduction and conclusion.
And the best news is…. all of this is absolutely free for all Mains selected candidates! Just fill the form right now to request the QEP material and we will get in touch with you with ASAP.
How Quality Assessment Program be useful right now?
You might be wondering, with just a month away is it wise to register for any program right now, even for free? You don’t have to worry. The Quality Assessment Program is not new information. It’s consolidated revision notes from the standard books and current affairs of UPSC-CSE Mains.
Our initiative last year of compiling issues and topics that had a high probability of being asked in Mains 2020was a thumping success– our toppers said they greatly benefitted from it. One such topper, Lakshay Chowdhary was gracious enough to give us a video testimonial.
Questions in 2020 Mains came from topics we covered like Pala period, Circum-Pacific zone, Online Education in India, Criminalization in Politics, 16 years of RTI, Microfinance etc.
Coverage of topics in QEP will have one and only one purpose – to enable you to write great answers for any question from a particular topic. To be able to write a convincing 250 words answer for a topic, you need to know atleast 1-2 pages of content for it.
At this point in time studying everything is not desirable neither is it feasible. You don’t have time to read everything, segregate what is important and what’s not, make notes, cover different dimensions, and then find a way to utilize that. What you need at this point in time is efficient and organized coverage of the most relevant topics for the IAS mains exam. With QEP we aim to help you achieve all this.
QEP or Quality Enrichment Program is an intensive and holistic program for IAS Mains 2021 GS papers. We aim to cover 250+ most relevant issues with a 360-degree view, covering all dimensions of each and every topic. Not only you’ll learn and analyze these issues but will also understand how to utilize them via Daily Answer Writing and Mains Test Series.
Topic-Wise Current Affairs From An Issue Perspective
Current affairs in the IAS mains exam must be covered from an ‘issue perspective’ and almost all of them have multiple dimensions to it, various stakeholders involved, have interconnectedness, and can be solved with a multipronged approach only. This should reflect in your answers.
QEP will help you enrich your pre-existing coverage and will add quality to it. With tests and mentorship, you will get an evaluation and necessary course correction. And we will provide daily answer writing to help you sharpen your answer writing skills and knowledge with our daily initiatives on Habitat.
Excluding your optional subject, we will be providing topic-wise notes from all the other GS papers for free. This includes Ethics case studies as well!
What are some of the topics that will be covered in Quality Assessment Program?
Unlike Prelims, Mains examinations are lesser dynamic. That’s why we have QEP for Mains and not Prelims. We are not like other dubious institutes who claimed to have figured out the exact paper pattern of Mains 2021. But if you put 2 &2 together, you will know that every paper has nearly 40 topics and we are covering 35 of the most important topics from every paper for Free! (Optional Subjects and Language papers are not included)
Here are 10 of the most important topics we will be covering
1. Scrapping of ease of doing Business ranking
2. Retrospective taxation in India :Issues and Challenges
Lord Mayo’s Resolution of 1870 on financial decentralisation visualised the development of local self-government institutions.
Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 has been hailed as the ‘Magna Carta’ of local self-government. He is called as the father of local-self government in India.
Establishment of Panchayats
DPSP: The Part IV of the Constitution of India contains Directive Principles of the State Policy in which Article 40 is provisioned for organisation of village panchayats.
73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992: It has inserted the Part IX in the Constitution, that enjoins the States to establish panchayats.
PESA Act: A separate legislation “Provisions for Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act” (PESA) was passed in 1996 to extend Part IX of the Constitution to the areas listed under the Fifth Schedule, subject to certain exceptions and modifications.
Why need PRIs?
India is predominantly a rural nation, wherein about 65 per cent of people and 70 per cent of the workforce lives in rural areas that contribute to about 46 per cent of the economy.
In view of the increasing rural population, the number of administrative units- PRIs has been increasing over time.
Expansion of rural residential areas, creation of new districts, Tehsils, blocks, etc., are other contributing factors.
Landmark feat: 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act
This Amendment paved the way for reform in local governance in the country.
It provided for setting up of three tiers of panchayats (only two tiers in case of States or Union Territories (UTs) having population less than 20 lakhs) ,
It contains provision for:
Devolution of powers and responsibilities to panchayats for both preparation of plans for economic development and social justice, utilising resources available with them (Article 243G)
Implementation of the schemes and programmes related to twenty-nine subjects listed in the ‘Eleventh Schedule’ of the Constitution
Women’s reservation
Establishment of a separate Ministry
Subsequently, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) was established on 27 May 2004.
The primary objective to overseethe implementation of Part IX of the Constitution and PESA Act 1996.
‘Panchayats’ being a State subject, their functioning is guided by respective State/U’T Panchayati Raj Acts.
Women empowerment and PRIs
Reservation for women in PRIs and subsequent increase in the quota by States has brought an unprecedented and huge number of women in the governance arena in India.
21 states have made provisions of 50% reservationin PRIs in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.
E-Governance Mechanism in Panchayats
Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) serve around 65% of the country’s population.
Improving functions of PRIs for better delivery of services is essential for the well-being of rural people.
Now the applications for these services have been unified in a single and simplified portal called eGramSwaraj.
Bottom-up Planning
Provision of basic infrastructures: Emphasis on e-governance, capacity building of PRIs, focused information, education, and communication (lEC) campaign are some of the main activities.
These are prerequisites for effective planning by PRIs in consultation with local people organized by the Gram Sabhas.
Backward Regions Grant Funds (BRGF) Scheme: This was implemented (2006-2015) to bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other developmental requirements along with the capacity building of PRIs.
Preparation of the district plan: This was an important part of BRGF.
Capacity Building of PRIs
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA): It was launched for implementation to develop and strengthen the capacities of PRIs to become more responsive towards local development needs.
Training: It is conducted on various themes such as constitutional and statutory provisions on the functioning of PRIs, e-Governance, financial management, commitments on SDGs, and livelihood troubles, and so on.
Participatory plans: This helps PRIs in preparing participatory plans that leverage technology, efficient and optimum utilisation of available resources, for realising solutions to local problems linked to SDGs.
Incentivization: Further, panchayats are also being incentivized through awards and financial incentives in recognition of their good work for improving planning and delivery of services.
Devolution of Funds, Functions, and Functionaries (3Fs)
MoPR has been working to realize the aspirations of constitutional provisions on various aspects of devolution of 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule.
The progress made by the States is quite varied in terms of the devolution of subjects.
Various studies have highlighted that in some States the extent of devolution is robust; in others still, it is a work in progress.
Other works: Land records management through ‘SVAMITVA’
Ensuring the property rights of rural inhabitants is essential for and inclusive social and economic development of the country.
The Ministry has launched a scheme named ‘SVAMITVA’ to prepare property records of rural people of their houses using drone surveying technology.
The goal is to cover most of the more than six lakh villages in the next five years.
Outcomes: Structural change in rural economy
Employment opportunities are shifting from the agriculture sector to construction, manufacturing, and service sectors.
Also, there is a huge potential for Agro-processing industries and MSMEs in rural areas.
Panchayats need to appropriately include these in their planning and work with relevant agencies and stakeholders for their implementation.
An emphasis on skilling of rural population and promotion of rural entrepreneurship is needed in these sectors.
As per a report, there is huge untapped potential for the growth of financial services such as credit, insurance, and digital payment facilities in rural areas.
Way forward
Flagship progam of Central and State Governments should clearly lay out the role of panchayats in their guidelines.
A lot of Panchayats are now equipped with the basic infrastructure but gaps still remain across the States.
In order to fill the gaps, the saturation approach needs to be adopted as announced by the Prime Minister on 75th Independence Day.
Representation of women in PRIs has substantially increased but effective participation requires appropriate training and exposure visits of these elected representatives.
Conclusion
Panchayats have also strengthened and are now equipped to handle disasters/ natural calamities.
They have played an active role in mitigation and management of Covid-19, which is reflected in the dashboard created by the Ministry to monitor real-time activities in this direction.
Panchayats need to be empowered to levy and collect taxes, tolls, fees, user charges, etc., along with other activities to enhance their Own Source of Revenue.
Panchayat also need to consider climate action as an integral part of planning and harnessing renewable energy.
Smriti Chetna is a student of Civilsdaily mentor Ravi sir. She joined the Ultimate Assessment Program (UAP) on 18 August 2020. As she is happy with Civilsdaily, she has now upgraded to UAP 2022.
You can also get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the formnow. An expert mentor will reach out to you in the next 24 hours.
Initially, Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation but found Mains to be manageable. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 70 marks out of 250 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
Smriti Chetna: “Believe in yourself, Believe in your dream and Surround yourself with those who Believe you can achieve your dream“.
We had a chance to catch up with Civilsdaily student and aspiring civil servant, Smriti. In between her college studies and UPSC CSE preparation, we were able to have a quick 15 minute chat with her.
Smriti, what has motivated you to prepare for UPSC as a college student?
My father is a government officer and we have discussions (sometimes, even debates) over dinner on how we can improve systemic changes that impede the growth of our country. From this, I have realized that as a country we do have the laws, money, resources and manpower for high growth. What’s lacking is the right execution. Only government and civil servants can do this. Though my dad is not an IAS officer, I have seen him bring changes in whatever capacity he is allowed. When I was in school, our chief guests on annual days were IAS or IPS officers. Their inspiring speeches and my dad’s work has what interested me to prepare for UPSC.
Why do you think mentorship is very important for your UPSC-CSE preparation?
I think its important for every aspirant to be in the right company when they are preparing for this unpredictable and tedious exam. They need to believe in your preparation as much as you do. Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants, that’s when Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end support.
You found prelims to be difficult initially, why so? How has Ravi sir mentored you for prelims?
I was not good at remembering the exact factual data. I have done UPSC-CSE prelims paper analysis from 2018-2021. I must say, the Civilsdaily prelims test series are at the same level and some of them are even tougher than the actual UPSC-CSE paper. I have also personally checked if the subject-wise test series covers all the topics in the syllabus. There are 4-5 questions even from topics that aspirants consider to have lesser weightage. Under Ravi sir’s mentorship, I learnt to pay attention to stats and figures for prelims. He also helped me with the different elimination techniques I can use to get the right answer. Samachar Manthan is my favorite aspect of the Ultimate Assessment Program. The current affairs is neatly consolidated topic-wise from The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, RSTV, Yojana and Kurukshetra. It’s a good material to revise your current affairs 3-4 months before the exam. The more tests I take, the lesser fears and anxiety I have about the upcoming UPSC-CSE exam. I get value-added materials, coaching notes and online classes from Civilsdaily as well.
How was your preparation 1-2 weeks into UAP and how is it now?
When I started out, I used to take 2-3 months to complete a standard book. However, I would still not have my concepts clear. Right now in my third revision, I am able to complete the entire Laxmikanth book in one week. With respect to mains answer writing, I never used to answer all the keywords of the questions. Now, I am able to organise an answer in my mind as I answer it. After evaluating my answers, Ravi sir would give me a call where he would discuss where I could have included diagrams or flowcharts and the other sources I can refer for better answers on a topic.
I always feel as a beginner, you have to be easy on yourself. Don’t write off UPSC CSE, just because you did not understand the concepts on Day 01.
What’s more important for a UPSC Aspirant — Intelligence or Consistency?
Few of my friends who started at the same time as me, performed much better in tests and had more knowledge on a topic than I did. But now, they are not interested in preparing for the examination anymore. I would definitely rank consistency over intelligence.
I can give another example from my own preparation. As I am pursuing a BA degree in History, I find the UPSC history subject to be easy. However, Geography was a subject I grappled with in the initial few months. After a solid two years of preparation, I am scoring equal marks in Geography and History. This is only due to consistency.
Are group studies detrimental or useful for your UPSC preparation?
Group studies online, especially the way Civilsdaily has structured it, removes the cons generally associated with group studies. When we study with our friends, we generally do for an hour or so before hanging out at a joint and chit-chatting. That does not happen over here. We explain concepts that we are not clear about to each other, sometimes share links of important reading material. When you are able to make another person understand a concept, you feel more positive about yourself.
Any final advice you would like to give to beginners?
Always go through the videos oftoppers who have given multiple attempts before clearing the exams. Because, what has worked for others might not work for you, but what has not worked for others will also not work for you. I understood how important it was to study for your optional subject everyday after watching these videos.
What is Ravi sir’s mentorship all about which boosted Smriti’s confidence & marks nearly 2x times?Let’s hear him talk about it.
Smriti used to consult multiple mentors in other institutes but now she only prefers the mentorship of Civilsdaily. What’s unique about the mentorship of Civilsdaily?
After talking to other students, I learnt that the mentors in other institutes are egoistic and have a ‘know-it-all’ attitude. They often demotivate students for what they call as ‘silly mistakes’. They even go to the extent of predicting if a student is likely to clear UPSC or not. But in Civilsdaily, mentors believe in working like a GPS. We understand what direction the student is in right now and tell them the closest route they can take to complete the syllabus and score marks in their tests. We are nobody to judge a learner. That’s why aspirants like Smriti prefer Civilsdaily mentorship.
Smriti is a very passionate and hardworking student, but I noticed that she would take study breaks that lasted more than a month or two. This didn’t deter me from putting across reminders to her. I believe that a mentor shouldn’t stop encouraging an aspirant in the initial months even if they don’t show the inclination to prepare. The syllabus is vast and overwhelming and it’s understandable that a beginner can get demotivated.
Due to this, Smriti gradually opened up to me about her issues. I understood that she gets panic attacks and it would take her nearly 2-3 weeks to recover. I decided that as a mentor, I had to be empathetic and sensitive to her issues and not brush them aside. Smriti often felt guilty about her study breaks and I assured her that it was okay to take a break as she deserved one. I asked her to hang out with her friends and family more often and go on a walk in the park with them. Over a period of time, Smriti could recover from a panic attack in 2-3 days instead of 2-3 weeks.
I then started giving her weekly targets to achieve and congratulated her upon successful completion in the study group. I would assign her a topic to read and ask her to explain the same to me. I would let her teach me those topics. When she missed out points, I would immediately tell her why adding a certain point will help her in the exam. After this, I even asked her to conduct few sessions on Habitat for other learners. This made her confident to continue her preparation.
Let’s get into the specifics, what are other methods you used to mentor Smriti on a day-to-day basis?
All of my test-series, whether prelims or mains are conducted on Zoom with the camera on so that I can monitor the students. This will discourage a student from taking unnecessary breaks and they will only utilize the three hours to answer questions.
When she had taken the Mains test series of other institutes, Smriti would take 5-6 hours to complete all questions. Over here, she finishes a test-series within the stipulated time of 3 hours.
Besides this, when a student starts studying I will ask them to say ‘Hi’ . When they are taking a break they need to say ‘Bye’ and when they resume their studies they need to say ‘Hi’ once again. At the end of the day, I would calculate the number of hours they spent studying and let them know the same. I never used to judge them for studying less. It’s like how a fitness tracker works. Whoever is interested in completing 1000 steps in a day will compensate for the next day if they are unable to achieve today’s target. This pushed Smriti to study for long hours.
While initially, she could not study for more than two hours everyday, now she studies for 8 hours without a break (12 hours with breaks). This is something she does by her own interest without me insisting her to follow it.
We have heard about the virtual library in your mentorship. What is that?
Virtual library is a practice wherein the student gets their study materials, logs in to a zoom session with other aspirants. All of them study silently. On the go, I share any extra reports or current affairs articles they have to read along with their standard books. While studying, if any student has a doubt they can ask in the session and it will be resolved.
Sometimes, our virtual library will be divided into small study group of 3-4 members who will all study the same topic together and discuss the aspects of the topic to each other. This is to prevent the aspirant from feeling lonely in their long preparation journey. Many students have reacted positively to this initiative as well, they get a sense of companionship and competitiveness when they are studying as a group.
What are few of the topics which students find difficult?
Economy is a subject where most of the students grapple with. I get a lot of doubts on topics like RBI, security market and bonds.
We have asked Smriti as well, but we want your take on this. What do you think of Smriti’s performance in the past 10 months?
She is a consistent performer. Though, initially she had scored only 30 out of 250 marks in GS Essay, now she is scoring above 100+ in all the mains test series. I am confident if she maintains the same consistency she can clear the exam in 2022.
That being said, I feel she can score better in mains. While evaluating her papers, I understood she is not including relevant factual data to back up her answers. I will be providing her committee reports and recommendations and mentor her in this direction from now on.
Get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the form below —
Smriti Chetna is a student of Civilsdaily mentor Ravi sir. She joined the Ultimate Assessment Program (UAP) on 18 August 2020. As she is happy with Civilsdaily, she has now upgraded to UAP 2022.
You can also get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the formnow. An expert mentor will reach out to you in the next 24 hours.
Initially, Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation but found Mains to be manageable. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 70 marks out of 250 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
Smriti Chetna: “Believe in yourself, Believe in your dream and Surround yourself with those who Believe you can achieve your dream“.
We had a chance to catch up with Civilsdaily student and aspiring civil servant, Smriti. In between her college studies and UPSC CSE preparation, we were able to have a quick 15 minute chat with her.
Smriti, what has motivated you to prepare for UPSC as a college student?
My father is a government officer and we have discussions (sometimes, even debates) over dinner on how we can improve systemic changes that impede the growth of our country. From this, I have realized that as a country we do have the laws, money, resources and manpower for high growth. What’s lacking is the right execution. Only government and civil servants can do this. Though my dad is not an IAS officer, I have seen him bring changes in whatever capacity he is allowed. When I was in school, our chief guests on annual days were IAS or IPS officers. Their inspiring speeches and my dad’s work has what interested me to prepare for UPSC.
Why do you think mentorship is very important for your UPSC-CSE preparation?
I think its important for every aspirant to be in the right company when they are preparing for this unpredictable and tedious exam. They need to believe in your preparation as much as you do. Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants, that’s when Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end support.
You found prelims to be difficult initially, why so? How has Ravi sir mentored you for prelims?
I was not good at remembering the exact factual data. I have done UPSC-CSE prelims paper analysis from 2018-2021. I must say, the Civilsdaily prelims test series are at the same level and some of them are even tougher than the actual UPSC-CSE paper. I have also personally checked if the subject-wise test series covers all the topics in the syllabus. There are 4-5 questions even from topics that aspirants consider to have lesser weightage. Under Ravi sir’s mentorship, I learnt to pay attention to stats and figures for prelims. He also helped me with the different elimination techniques I can use to get the right answer. Samachar Manthan is my favorite aspect of the Ultimate Assessment Program. The current affairs is neatly consolidated topic-wise from The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, RSTV, Yojana and Kurukshetra. It’s a good material to revise your current affairs 3-4 months before the exam. The more tests I take, the lesser fears and anxiety I have about the upcoming UPSC-CSE exam. I get value-added materials, coaching notes and online classes from Civilsdaily as well.
How was your preparation 1-2 weeks into UAP and how is it now?
When I started out, I used to take 2-3 months to complete a standard book. However, I would still not have my concepts clear. Right now in my third revision, I am able to complete the entire Laxmikanth book in one week. With respect to mains answer writing, I never used to answer all the keywords of the questions. Now, I am able to organise an answer in my mind as I answer it. After evaluating my answers, Ravi sir would give me a call where he would discuss where I could have included diagrams or flowcharts and the other sources I can refer for better answers on a topic.
I always feel as a beginner, you have to be easy on yourself. Don’t write off UPSC CSE, just because you did not understand the concepts on Day 01.
What’s more important for a UPSC Aspirant — Intelligence or Consistency?
Few of my friends who started at the same time as me, performed much better in tests and had more knowledge on a topic than I did. But now, they are not interested in preparing for the examination anymore. I would definitely rank consistency over intelligence.
I can give another example from my own preparation. As I am pursuing a BA degree in History, I find the UPSC history subject to be easy. However, Geography was a subject I grappled with in the initial few months. After a solid two years of preparation, I am scoring equal marks in Geography and History. This is only due to consistency.
Are group studies detrimental or useful for your UPSC preparation?
Group studies online, especially the way Civilsdaily has structured it, removes the cons generally associated with group studies. When we study with our friends, we generally do for an hour or so before hanging out at a joint and chit-chatting. That does not happen over here. We explain concepts that we are not clear about to each other, sometimes share links of important reading material. When you are able to make another person understand a concept, you feel more positive about yourself.
Any final advice you would like to give to beginners?
Always go through the videos oftoppers who have given multiple attempts before clearing the exams. Because, what has worked for others might not work for you, but what has not worked for others will also not work for you. I understood how important it was to study for your optional subject everyday after watching these videos.
What is Ravi sir’s mentorship all about which boosted Smriti’s confidence & marks nearly 2x times?Let’s hear him talk about it.
Smriti used to consult multiple mentors in other institutes but now she only prefers the mentorship of Civilsdaily. What’s unique about the mentorship of Civilsdaily?
After talking to other students, I learnt that the mentors in other institutes are egoistic and have a ‘know-it-all’ attitude. They often demotivate students for what they call as ‘silly mistakes’. They even go to the extent of predicting if a student is likely to clear UPSC or not. But in Civilsdaily, mentors believe in working like a GPS. We understand what direction the student is in right now and tell them the closest route they can take to complete the syllabus and score marks in their tests. We are nobody to judge a learner. That’s why aspirants like Smriti prefer Civilsdaily mentorship.
Smriti is a very passionate and hardworking student, but I noticed that she would take study breaks that lasted more than a month or two. This didn’t deter me from putting across reminders to her. I believe that a mentor shouldn’t stop encouraging an aspirant in the initial months even if they don’t show the inclination to prepare. The syllabus is vast and overwhelming and it’s understandable that a beginner can get demotivated.
Due to this, Smriti gradually opened up to me about her issues. I understood that she gets panic attacks and it would take her nearly 2-3 weeks to recover. I decided that as a mentor, I had to be empathetic and sensitive to her issues and not brush them aside. Smriti often felt guilty about her study breaks and I assured her that it was okay to take a break as she deserved one. I asked her to hang out with her friends and family more often and go on a walk in the park with them. Over a period of time, Smriti could recover from a panic attack in 2-3 days instead of 2-3 weeks.
I then started giving her weekly targets to achieve and congratulated her upon successful completion in the study group. I would assign her a topic to read and ask her to explain the same to me. I would let her teach me those topics. When she missed out points, I would immediately tell her why adding a certain point will help her in the exam. After this, I even asked her to conduct few sessions on Habitat for other learners. This made her confident to continue her preparation.
Let’s get into the specifics, what are other methods you used to mentor Smriti on a day-to-day basis?
All of my test-series, whether prelims or mains are conducted on Zoom with the camera on so that I can monitor the students. This will discourage a student from taking unnecessary breaks and they will only utilize the three hours to answer questions.
When she had taken the Mains test series of other institutes, Smriti would take 5-6 hours to complete all questions. Over here, she finishes a test-series within the stipulated time of 3 hours.
Besides this, when a student starts studying I will ask them to say ‘Hi’ . When they are taking a break they need to say ‘Bye’ and when they resume their studies they need to say ‘Hi’ once again. At the end of the day, I would calculate the number of hours they spent studying and let them know the same. I never used to judge them for studying less. It’s like how a fitness tracker works. Whoever is interested in completing 1000 steps in a day will compensate for the next day if they are unable to achieve today’s target. This pushed Smriti to study for long hours.
While initially, she could not study for more than two hours everyday, now she studies for 8 hours without a break (12 hours with breaks). This is something she does by her own interest without me insisting her to follow it.
We have heard about the virtual library in your mentorship. What is that?
Virtual library is a practice wherein the student gets their study materials, logs in to a zoom session with other aspirants. All of them study silently. On the go, I share any extra reports or current affairs articles they have to read along with their standard books. While studying, if any student has a doubt they can ask in the session and it will be resolved.
Sometimes, our virtual library will be divided into small study group of 3-4 members who will all study the same topic together and discuss the aspects of the topic to each other. This is to prevent the aspirant from feeling lonely in their long preparation journey. Many students have reacted positively to this initiative as well, they get a sense of companionship and competitiveness when they are studying as a group.
What are few of the topics which students find difficult?
Economy is a subject where most of the students grapple with. I get a lot of doubts on topics like RBI, security market and bonds.
We have asked Smriti as well, but we want your take on this. What do you think of Smriti’s performance in the past 10 months?
She is a consistent performer. Though, initially she had scored only 30 out of 250 marks in GS Essay, now she is scoring above 100+ in all the mains test series. I am confident if she maintains the same consistency she can clear the exam in 2022.
That being said, I feel she can score better in mains. While evaluating her papers, I understood she is not including relevant factual data to back up her answers. I will be providing her committee reports and recommendations and mentor her in this direction from now on.
Get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the form below —
Smriti Chetna is a student of Civilsdaily mentor Ravi sir. She joined the Ultimate Assessment Program (UAP) on 18 August 2020. As she is happy with Civilsdaily, she has now upgraded to UAP 2022.
You can also get your first free counselling session (30-40 minutes) from Civilsdaily by filling the formnow. An expert mentor will reach out to you in the next 24 hours.
Initially, Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation but found Mains to be manageable. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 70 marks out of 250 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
Smriti Chetna: “Believe in yourself, Believe in your dream and Surround yourself with those who Believe you can achieve your dream“.
We had a chance to catch up with Civilsdaily student and aspiring civil servant, Smriti. In between her college studies and UPSC CSE preparation, we were able to have a quick 15 minute chat with her.
Smriti, what has motivated you to prepare for UPSC as a college student?
My father is a government officer and we have discussions (sometimes, even debates) over dinner on how we can improve systemic changes that impede the growth of our country. From this, I have realized that as a country we do have the laws, money, resources and manpower for high growth. What’s lacking is the right execution. Only government and civil servants can do this. Though my dad is not an IAS officer, I have seen him bring changes in whatever capacity he is allowed. When I was in school, our chief guests on annual days were IAS or IPS officers. Their inspiring speeches and my dad’s work has what interested me to prepare for UPSC.
Why do you think mentorship is very important for your UPSC-CSE preparation?
I think its important for every aspirant to be in the right company when they are preparing for this unpredictable and tedious exam. They need to believe in your preparation as much as you do. Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants, that’s when Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end support.
You found prelims to be difficult initially, why so? How has Ravi sir mentored you for prelims?
I was not good at remembering the exact factual data. I have done UPSC-CSE prelims paper analysis from 2018-2021. I must say, the Civilsdaily prelims test series are at the same level and some of them are even tougher than the actual UPSC-CSE paper. I have also personally checked if the subject-wise test series covers all the topics in the syllabus. There are 4-5 questions even from topics that aspirants consider to have lesser weightage. Under Ravi sir’s mentorship, I learnt to pay attention to stats and figures for prelims. He also helped me with the different elimination techniques I can use to get the right answer. Samachar Manthan is my favorite aspect of the Ultimate Assessment Program. The current affairs is neatly consolidated topic-wise from The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, RSTV, Yojana and Kurukshetra. It’s a good material to revise your current affairs 3-4 months before the exam. The more tests I take, the lesser fears and anxiety I have about the upcoming UPSC-CSE exam. I get value-added materials, coaching notes and online classes from Civilsdaily as well.
How was your preparation 1-2 weeks into UAP and how is it now?
When I started out, I used to take 2-3 months to complete a standard book. However, I would still not have my concepts clear. Right now in my third revision, I am able to complete the entire Laxmikanth book in one week. With respect to mains answer writing, I never used to answer all the keywords of the questions. Now, I am able to organise an answer in my mind as I answer it. After evaluating my answers, Ravi sir would give me a call where he would discuss where I could have included diagrams or flowcharts and the other sources I can refer for better answers on a topic.
I always feel as a beginner, you have to be easy on yourself. Don’t write off UPSC CSE, just because you did not understand the concepts on Day 01.
What’s more important for a UPSC Aspirant — Intelligence or Consistency?
Few of my friends who started at the same time as me, performed much better in tests and had more knowledge on a topic than I did. But now, they are not interested in preparing for the examination anymore. I would definitely rank consistency over intelligence.
I can give another example from my own preparation. As I am pursuing a BA degree in History, I find the UPSC history subject to be easy. However, Geography was a subject I grappled with in the initial few months. After a solid two years of preparation, I am scoring equal marks in Geography and History. This is only due to consistency.
Are group studies detrimental or useful for your UPSC preparation?
Group studies online, especially the way Civilsdaily has structured it, removes the cons generally associated with group studies. When we study with our friends, we generally do for an hour or so before hanging out at a joint and chit-chatting. That does not happen over here. We explain concepts that we are not clear about to each other, sometimes share links of important reading material. When you are able to make another person understand a concept, you feel more positive about yourself.
Any final advice you would like to give to beginners?
Always go through the videos oftoppers who have given multiple attempts before clearing the exams. Because, what has worked for others might not work for you, but what has not worked for others will also not work for you. I understood how important it was to study for your optional subject everyday after watching these videos.
What is Ravi sir’s mentorship all about which boosted Smriti’s confidence & marks nearly 2x times?Let’s hear him talk about it.
Smriti used to consult multiple mentors in other institutes but now she only prefers the mentorship of Civilsdaily. What’s unique about the mentorship of Civilsdaily?
After talking to other students, I learnt that the mentors in other institutes are egoistic and have a ‘know-it-all’ attitude. They often demotivate students for what they call as ‘silly mistakes’. They even go to the extent of predicting if a student is likely to clear UPSC or not. But in Civilsdaily, mentors believe in working like a GPS. We understand what direction the student is in right now and tell them the closest route they can take to complete the syllabus and score marks in their tests. We are nobody to judge a learner. That’s why aspirants like Smriti prefer Civilsdaily mentorship.
Smriti is a very passionate and hardworking student, but I noticed that she would take study breaks that lasted more than a month or two. This didn’t deter me from putting across reminders to her. I believe that a mentor shouldn’t stop encouraging an aspirant in the initial months even if they don’t show the inclination to prepare. The syllabus is vast and overwhelming and it’s understandable that a beginner can get demotivated.
Due to this, Smriti gradually opened up to me about her issues. I understood that she gets panic attacks and it would take her nearly 2-3 weeks to recover. I decided that as a mentor, I had to be empathetic and sensitive to her issues and not brush them aside. Smriti often felt guilty about her study breaks and I assured her that it was okay to take a break as she deserved one. I asked her to hang out with her friends and family more often and go on a walk in the park with them. Over a period of time, Smriti could recover from a panic attack in 2-3 days instead of 2-3 weeks.
I then started giving her weekly targets to achieve and congratulated her upon successful completion in the study group. I would assign her a topic to read and ask her to explain the same to me. I would let her teach me those topics. When she missed out points, I would immediately tell her why adding a certain point will help her in the exam. After this, I even asked her to conduct few sessions on Habitat for other learners. This made her confident to continue her preparation.
Let’s get into the specifics, what are other methods you used to mentor Smriti on a day-to-day basis?
All of my test-series, whether prelims or mains are conducted on Zoom with the camera on so that I can monitor the students. This will discourage a student from taking unnecessary breaks and they will only utilize the three hours to answer questions.
When she had taken the Mains test series of other institutes, Smriti would take 5-6 hours to complete all questions. Over here, she finishes a test-series within the stipulated time of 3 hours.
Besides this, when a student starts studying I will ask them to say ‘Hi’ . When they are taking a break they need to say ‘Bye’ and when they resume their studies they need to say ‘Hi’ once again. At the end of the day, I would calculate the number of hours they spent studying and let them know the same. I never used to judge them for studying less. It’s like how a fitness tracker works. Whoever is interested in completing 1000 steps in a day will compensate for the next day if they are unable to achieve today’s target. This pushed Smriti to study for long hours.
While initially, she could not study for more than two hours everyday, now she studies for 8 hours without a break (12 hours with breaks). This is something she does by her own interest without me insisting her to follow it.
We have heard about the virtual library in your mentorship. What is that?
Virtual library is a practice wherein the student gets their study materials, logs in to a zoom session with other aspirants. All of them study silently. On the go, I share any extra reports or current affairs articles they have to read along with their standard books. While studying, if any student has a doubt they can ask in the session and it will be resolved.
Sometimes, our virtual library will be divided into small study group of 3-4 members who will all study the same topic together and discuss the aspects of the topic to each other. This is to prevent the aspirant from feeling lonely in their long preparation journey. Many students have reacted positively to this initiative as well, they get a sense of companionship and competitiveness when they are studying as a group.
What are few of the topics which students find difficult?
Economy is a subject where most of the students grapple with. I get a lot of doubts on topics like RBI, security market and bonds.
We have asked Smriti as well, but we want your take on this. What do you think of Smriti’s performance in the past 10 months?
She is a consistent performer. Though, initially she had scored only 30 out of 250 marks in GS Essay, now she is scoring above 100+ in all the mains test series. I am confident if she maintains the same consistency she can clear the exam in 2022.
That being said, I feel she can score better in mains. While evaluating her papers, I understood she is not including relevant factual data to back up her answers. I will be providing her committee reports and recommendations and mentor her in this direction from now on.
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