” I know my purpose in life is to use my skills to serve the nation and lead in its development. If not UPSC, I would have definitely found another way to do so. This is what made me study without any stress.”
Securing the first rank in CBSE at a national level and then going onto to crack the tough UPSC-CSE exams with an AIR 17 is not an easy feat. But Sarthak Agrawal has imagined and achieved both. He had left a prestigious position as a research economist at the World Bank as he wanted to serve his home country. It’s no surprise then that Sarthak comfortably achieved high scores in the otherwise unpredictable Economics Optional paper.
Key Takeaways of Sarthak Agarwal’s Webinar
1. Planning the day ahead. Is it better to be an early riser or a night owl?
2. Managing negative emotions of despair and stress.How did Sarthak study on days he felt low?
3. His sources for Economics Optional. And free handouts to everyone who registers!
4.Simplifying the UPSC preparation process. How did he manage to complete his studies within 8 months?
5. Should an aspirant join a study group and prepare? Sarthak Agrawal answers.
6. Know when to take the exam seriously and when to switch off. What practices Sarthak avoided completely which were popularly followed by other aspirants?
A major part of the session would be interactive and in Q&A format. This will surely benefit any aspirant who are in midway of their preparation.
Webinar Details
Register for this free webinar by IAS officer Sarthak Agarwal and get his economy notes from us!
GS-1 Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
GS-2 Parliament and State Legislatures—Structure, Functioning, Conduct of Business, Powers & Privileges and Issues Arising out of these.
GS-3 Disaster and Disaster Management.
GS-4 Aptitude and Foundational Values for Civil Service, Integrity, Impartiality and Non-partisanship, Objectivity, Dedication to Public Service, Empathy, Tolerance and Compassion towards the weaker-sections.
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*.
The informal economy is a global and pervasive phenomenon.
According to ILO approximately 60 percent of the world’s population participates in the informal sector.
Defining Informal Economy
As the International Labour Organization defined the informal sector in 2002, the informal sector does not include the criminal economy.
While production or employment arrangements in the informal economy may not be strictly legal, the sector produces and distributes legal goods and services.
The informal economy also does not include the reproductive or care economy, which is made up of unpaid domestic work and care activities.
It is part of the market economy, meaning it produces goods and services for sale and profit.
India and informal economy
In developing countries like India, large share of the population typically depends upon the informal economy.
According to Periodic Labour Force Survey over 90 percent of workers in India are informal workers.
Out of these those engaged in rural areas is significantly more than urban areas.
What makes an economy ‘informal’?
The informal sector is largely characterized by several qualities:
Skills gained outside of a formal education
Easy entry (meaning anyone who wishes to join the sector can find some sort of work which will result in cash earnings)
Lack of stable employer-employee relationships
Small scale of operations
What characterizes the informal economy in India?
Workers who participate in the informal economy are typically classified as employed.
The type of work is diverse, particularly in terms of capital invested, technology used, and income generated.
The spectrum ranges from self-employment or unpaid family labour to street vendors.
Most workers in the informal sector do not have access to secure work, benefits, welfare protection, or representation.
Many workers engage in informal ventures by choice, for either economic or non-economic reasons.
What makes informality grow in an economy?
There are three basic views to explain the causes of informality:
Informality due to overt regulation: Informal sector is a reservoir of potentially productive entrepreneurs who are kept out of formality by high regulatory costs, most notably entry regulation.
Informality for profiteering: Informal forms are “parasitic” which are productive enough to survive in the formal sector but choose to remain informal to earn higher profits by not complying with taxes and regulations.
Too unproductive to become formal: Informality is a survival strategy for low-skill individuals, who are too unproductive to ever become formal.
Distribution of Informal Workers
Rural: A large number of informal workers are engaged in farm or agricultural activities.
Urban: Those in urban areas are involved primarily in manufacturing, trade, hotel and restaurant; construction; transport; storage and communications; and finance, business and real estate.
Issues surrounding India’s informal sector
Work hazards: Most industries, especially mining, have inadequate safety and health standards. Environmental hazards are evident in the case of the informal sector.
Irregularities in Wages: The daily wages are below the minimum rate of wages for informal workers.
Long Hours of work: Long hours of work in the unorganised sector beyond the labour and regulatory norms are common in India.
Poverty and Indebtedness: Workers in the unorganised sector had a much higher incidence of poverty than their counterparts in the organised sector.
Inactivity of work: There are many times when a worker cannot be economically active. For instance, due to biological circumstances such as sickness or old age, on account of personal calamities such as an accident or unemployment.
No Social Security Net: There are no social security measures to provide risks coverage and ensure maintenance of basic living standards at times of crises such as unemployment or health issues.
Why does formalization matter?
Livelihood guarantee: Ignoring problems in the informal sector can be costly as it can lead to job and wage losses, higher inflation and even risk the livelihood of migrant workers.
Assuring minimum wages: For instance, following demonetisation, a disproportionately higher number of jobs were created in rural India which isn’t the positive it might seem as wages are 2.5 times lower than in urban India.
Migration control: Informal sector workers suffered far more from the national lockdown in 2020 than their formal sector counterparts. With an inadequate safety net, there were painful accounts of displaced informal workers trying to get back to their rural homes.
Inflation control: India was one of the few countries with high inflation throughout pandemic-stricken 2020. Some of this is likely to be associated with the disruption in informal firms, who in normal times are very active in the production of essential goods like food and textiles.
What does all of this mean for economic growth?
Ans.Formalization can be a double-edged sword
The constructive way to think about this is to differentiate between “forced” and “organic” formalisation.
Formalisation that comes only on the back of external pressure or leads to deep distress in the informal sector, may not be sustainable.
Formalisation that happens on the back of policy changes that help small and informal firms grow over time into medium or larger formal sector firms is more sustainable.
Various policy measures
(1) Labor legislations
The legal initiatives like the Employees State Insurance Act (1948), the Minimum Wages Act (1948), the Coal Mines Provident Funds Act (1948), The Employees Provident Fund Act (1952), the Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and the Contract Labour Act (1970) etc. are important for labour welfare.
(2) National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
India is the first country to set up, a commission named National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in 2004 to study the problems and challenges being faced by the informal economy.
(3) Govt schemes
The Government of India initiated several poverty-related development schemes which indirectly benefited the urban informal sector since independence. Schemes like the MGNREGA and the Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana were launched to provide support to the poor who constitute bulk of the informal sector.
(4) Social security legislations
The govt has enacted the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 in this regard. The government has also launched Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana etc.
(5) Skill development
To take care of the need for skills of workers in the informal economy, the government has started various programs such as the Skill India Mission, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana, recognition of prior learning etc.
Way forward
Overhauling labour laws: Labour, as well as tax policies, are key to improving the business environment. Labour regulations have to allow for more flexible work arrangements. Moreover, the right to associate freely should be vigorously protected.
Preventing occupational hazards: Innovative means to prevent occupational accidents and diseases and environmental hazards need to be developed through cost-effective and sustainable measures at the work-site level to allow for capacity-building within the informal sector itself.
Local support: Building-on local institutional support to progressively extend social protection will be critical.
Sensitization: Special attention should be paid to the sensitization of policy makers, municipal authorities and labour inspection services to change their traditional role towards a preventive and promotional approach.
Regulatory ease: In the meantime, steps to promote reforms that are needed to help small businesses grow are critical. For example, lowering the regulatory burden associated with growing firms.
Social protection: The extension of occupational health care to workers in the informal sector should be promoted incorporating occupational health into public health care services at district and local levels and establishing a link between first aid and prevention at the work-site’s level.
Conclusion
India’s informal sector is the backbone of the economy.
The nation’s quality of life hinges on things becoming better for masses of informally employed people.
Over the longer term, the prospects for this group will depend on the progress of policy reforms and economic growth, which are the leading drivers of real wages.
GS-1 History of the World will include events from 18th century such as Industrial Revolution, world wars, Redrawal of National Boundaries, Colonization, Decolonization, political philosophies like Communism, Capitalism, Socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
GS-2 Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
GS-3 Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
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*.
The webinar by Sajal Sir on the best practices of answer writing was a massive success amongst aspirants who got the chance to clear their doubts with him. Many aspirants let us know how they had never realised the mistakes they made till Sajal Sir pointed it out to them. Since the webinar was on 7 November, we are sharing the recorded session with members who had missed it. In addition to this, you can avail a free 1-on-1 counselling session with an expert mentor in the next 24 hours! All you have to do is sign up the form below.
Now that UPSC CSE prelims results are out, you would have started answer writing practice for mains. Keep in mind that answering for mains is not like answering your university papers. Over here, examiners expect pointers, examples, flowcharts, mind maps, diagrams than long paragraphs. Given the time and word limit, it’s better not to beat around the bush while answering.
Open to All, Free Webinar on 20 Best Practices of Answer Writing
Sajal sir has shared his experiences of scoring 120+ in all the UPSC 2017 GS papers in the webinar. This webinar about the new age formula to ace UPSC Mains is absolutely free for all to attend.
For a better understanding on the format of the webinar, here’s Sajal sir’s explanation on how to approach a sample question.
It is commented that Electoral bonds instead of cleansing India’s electoral system distort India’s democracy. Do you agree? Critically analyse.
Sajal Sir Suggests: Understand the key demand of the question. Don’t get swayed by only seeing the theme of the question. Question is not about electoral bonds only. Many aspirants write everything they know about electoral bonds. You need to first mention how it will cleanse India’s electoral system. After that, link it with democracy. How it violates key features of democracy like transparency, accountability and level playing field. Writing only Pros and Cons will not fetch you marks.
Do you know that toppers use certain techniques of answer-writing to score higher marks? Are you aware of the PESTLE approach or the 7-5-3 technique of answer writing? If not, then its time you attended this webinar
Sajal sir in the past 7 years has mentored over 400 students who went onto become UPSC toppers. Apart from this, his course SMASH Mains 2020 had a turnover of 80% interview recommended candidates.
This is how the UPSC Toppers scored in test series before Sajal sir’s intervention —
They had tried everything but were not able to score high in the exams. From their approach to answering to the body of answers, they faced problems. They faced problems with things like putting proper headings, how to frame dimensions, introductions, conclusions, etc. They never even got the right feedback which could have helped them!
And this is how they improved after learning the best answer writing practices from him —
Team is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Beyond the Basics: How to Write Above-Average Answers for GS4 Ethics? || Free Webinar By 140 scorer Sukanya Ma’am*
Every aspirant studies the same standard book for Ethics and gets the same time during exam. And yet, only a few score above 110+ while others don’t. Why?
Answer writing for GS4 Ethics is not an inborn talent, it is a skill you can masterwith the right approach and guidance.
Join Sukanya Rana Ma’am as she takes you through the advanced nuances of GS4 Ethics and solves a few case studies in thefree webinaron 10 November (Wednesday)
Why Should you Attend this Webinar?
Every time and every year almost 90% of the GS4 questions come from topics covered in standard books. This is unlike your GS2 and GS3 papers. Hence, it has the least syllabus out of all the papers. The challenges faced by most aspirants in Ethics is not syllabus coverage.
But writing what is covered in the standard books alone won’t fetch you extra marks. Do you think most of your time is spent understanding the case study than framing an answer for it? Do you want ready-made answers in your mind and write as you go?
Then this free webinar is the for you! Advance your possibility of success by learning from Sukanya Rana Ma’am who scored 140 in 2019 Ethics paper.
What will you Learn in this Webinar?
1. Five years paper analysis of Ethics. What are the trends you shouldn’t miss?
2. Get an extra edge in your answers. How to have an analytical approach in your answers?
3. The 3 common types of questions asked in the exam. What are they?
4. The trickier aspects of the exam. How to answer quote based questions?
5. Time-management techniques for GS4 Ethics. How not to compromise quality in your answers?
All aspirants are welcome to interact with Sukanya Ma’am and clear their doubts in the Q&A session. This webinar is absolutely freeand only requires prior registration.
Date: 10 November (Wednesday)
Time: 3 P.M
About Sukanya Rana Ma’am
Sukanya ma’am has the experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews in UPSC. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before being a mentor at Civilsdaily, she worked as an officer in a public sector bank. Sukanya Rana Ma’am is passionate about guiding future officers in finding success.
As an aspirant, she consistently scored 100+ marks in Ethics paper. Notably, in 2019 her marks were 140 in GS 4. Under her mentorship, many Smash Mains 2020 students were able to secure 110+ marks.
Every aspirant studies the same standard book for Ethics and gets the same time during exam. And yet, only a few score above 110+ while others don’t. Why?
Answer writing for GS4 Ethics is not an inborn talent, it is a skill you can masterwith the right approach and guidance.
Join Sukanya Rana Ma’am as she takes you through the advanced nuances of GS4 Ethics and solves a few case studies in thefree webinaron 10 November (Wednesday)
Why Should you Attend this Webinar?
Every time and every year almost 90% of the GS4 questions come from topics covered in standard books. This is unlike your GS2 and GS3 papers. Hence, it has the least syllabus out of all the papers. The challenges faced by most aspirants in Ethics is not syllabus coverage.
But writing what is covered in the standard books alone won’t fetch you extra marks. Do you think most of your time is spent understanding the case study than framing an answer for it? Do you want ready-made answers in your mind and write as you go?
Then this free webinar is the for you! Advance your possibility of success by learning from Sukanya Rana Ma’am who scored 140 in 2019 Ethics paper.
What will you Learn in this Webinar?
1. Five years paper analysis of Ethics. What are the trends you shouldn’t miss?
2. Get an extra edge in your answers. How to have an analytical approach in your answers?
3. The 3 common types of questions asked in the exam. What are they?
4. The trickier aspects of the exam. How to answer quote based questions?
5. Time-management techniques for GS4 Ethics. How not to compromise quality in your answers?
All aspirants are welcome to interact with Sukanya Ma’am and clear their doubts in the Q&A session. This webinar is absolutely freeand only requires prior registration.
Date: 10 November (Wednesday)
Time: 3 P.M
About Sukanya Rana Ma’am
Sukanya ma’am has the experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews in UPSC. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before being a mentor at Civilsdaily, she worked as an officer in a public sector bank. Sukanya Rana Ma’am is passionate about guiding future officers in finding success.
As an aspirant, she consistently scored 100+ marks in Ethics paper. Notably, in 2019 her marks were 140 in GS 4. Under her mentorship, many Smash Mains 2020 students were able to secure 110+ marks.
GS-1 Post-independence Consolidation and Reorganization within the country.
GS-2 Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora
GS-3 Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
GS-4 Aptitude and Foundational Values for Civil Service, Integrity, Impartiality and Non-partisanship, Objectivity, Dedication to Public Service, Empathy, Tolerance and Compassion towards the weaker-sections.
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*.
Every aspirant studies the same standard book for Ethics and gets the same time during exam. And yet, only a few score above 110+ while others don’t. Why?
Answer writing for GS4 Ethics is not an inborn talent, it is a skill you can masterwith the right approach and guidance.
Join Sukanya Rana Ma’am as she takes you through the advanced nuances of GS4 Ethics and solves a few case studies in thefree webinaron 10 November (Wednesday)
Why Should you Attend this Webinar?
Every time and every year almost 90% of the GS4 questions come from topics covered in standard books. This is unlike your GS2 and GS3 papers. Hence, it has the least syllabus out of all the papers. The challenges faced by most aspirants in Ethics is not syllabus coverage.
But writing what is covered in the standard books alone won’t fetch you extra marks. Do you think most of your time is spent understanding the case study than framing an answer for it? Do you want ready-made answers in your mind and write as you go?
Then this free webinar is the for you! Advance your possibility of success by learning from Sukanya Rana Ma’am who scored 140 in 2019 Ethics paper.
What will you Learn in this Webinar?
1. Five years paper analysis of Ethics. What are the trends you shouldn’t miss?
2. Get an extra edge in your answers. How to have an analytical approach in your answers?
3. The 3 common types of questions asked in the exam. What are they?
4. The trickier aspects of the exam. How to answer quote based questions?
5. Time-management techniques for GS4 Ethics. How not to compromise quality in your answers?
All aspirants are welcome to interact with Sukanya Ma’am and clear their doubts in the Q&A session. This webinar is absolutely freeand only requires prior registration.
Date: 10 November (Wednesday)
Time: 3 P.M
About Sukanya Rana Ma’am
Sukanya ma’am has the experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews in UPSC. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before being a mentor at Civilsdaily, she worked as an officer in a public sector bank. Sukanya Rana Ma’am is passionate about guiding future officers in finding success.
As an aspirant, she consistently scored 100+ marks in Ethics paper. Notably, in 2019 her marks were 140 in GS 4. Under her mentorship, many Smash Mains 2020 students were able to secure 110+ marks.
Energy security means consistent availability of sufficient energy in various forms at affordable prices.
These conditions must prevail over a longer period of time if energy is to contribute to sustainable development.
India is one of the world’s largest energy consumers and currently relies on importing fuels to a significant extent.
India’s energy mix
The major fuel in India’s energy mix is coal 55%, a major portion of which is produced domestically.
Nuclear energy makes up about 3%, and renewable energy sources about 20%.
Why focus on nuclear energy?
There is a huge gap between energy demand and energy supply in India, due to its rapidly growing economy.
Nuclear energy is considered by many as being the only source of energy suitable to support continuous industrialization and urbanization.
India’s Nuclear Program
India embarked on its commercial nuclear power production in 1969 with the commissioning of two boiling water reactors (BWR) of 210 MWe capacities each.
India’s nuclear power program was conceived to be a closed fuel cycle, to be achieved in three sequential stages.
Dr Homi J Bhabha, who is regarded as the father of the Indian nuclear power programme, who envisioned the roadmap of the three-stage nuclear energy:
First stage: Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) will be used to produce energy from natural uranium. Besides producing energy, it will produce fissile plutonium (Pu)-239.
Second stage: It involves using the indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor technology fuelled by Pu-239 to produce energy and more of Pu-239. By the end of the second stage of the cycle, the reactor would have produced more fissile material than it would have consumed, thus earning the name “Breeder.”
Third stage: It would involve the use of Pu-239 recovered from the second stage, in combination with thorium-232, to produce energy and U-233 — another fissile material — using Thermal Breeders. This production of U-233 from thorium-232 would complete the cycle.
Why was 3 stage program envisaged?
These stages feed into each other in such a way that the spent fuel generated from one stage of the cycle is reprocessed and used in the next.
It was designed to breed fuel and to minimize the generation of nuclear waste.
The ultimate objective is to utilize the country’s vast reserves of thorium-232. India has the world’s third-largest reserves of thorium.
Thorium, however, cannot be used as a fuel in its natural state. It needs to be converted into its usable “fissile” form after a series of reactions.
Hence, to eventually produce nuclear power from its thorium reserves, three-stage nuclear program was envisioned.
Nuclear Reactors in India
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd is the public sector enterprise, under the Department of Atomic Energy, entrusted with the task of nuclear power generation in the country.
Currently, there are 22 operational nuclear reactors in India with a total installed capacity of 6780 Mwe. These are:
Tarapur 1 & 2 (BWR) – 2X160 MW;
Rajasthan 1 to 6 (PHWR) – 100 +200 + 4X220 MW
Madras 1 & 2 (PHWR) – 2X220 MW;
Kudankulam 1 & 2 (PWR) – 2X1000 MW
Narora 1 & 2 (PHWR) – 2X220 MW;
Tarapur 3 & 4 (PHWR) – 2X540 MW
Kaiga 1 to 4 ((PHWR) – 4X220 MW;
Kakrapar 1 & 2 (PHWR) – 2X220 MW
Projects under construction
Relevance of Nuclear Energy
Non-renewable sources: Currently, India draws nearly 63 per cent of its total energy generation from thermal sources. Of this, nearly 55 per cent is met from coal and the rest from gas, with a minuscule amount from oil-fired plants.
Import dependence: India imports a significant part of its fossil fuels which raises economic and strategic vulnerabilities.
Emission reduction: India’s per capita carbon emissions stand at 1-1.2 tons, compared to 20 tons per capita of the US. If a growing Indian economy continues to rely on coal, carbon emissions are bound to rise.
Limitations of Renewable Energy: Solar and wind energy generation is land-intensive. Solar plants carry a dependence on imported technology. Another solar and wind power generation related handicap is in energy storage, which makes them unsuitable as a baseload source of electricity.
Conclusion
India is a developing nation and its economy is dominated by the manufacturing and service sectors which are energy-intensive.
Its power generation capacity has increased a hundred-fold since independence, and it is today the third-largest producer of electricity in the world, are applaudable developments.
India needs to scale up electricity production to assure a reasonable quality of life for citizens.
Such requirements make the choice for India, not between nuclear and renewable, but to include all available sources.
