The Wildlife Institute of India (WII-Dehradun) Conservation Biologists will begin collaring ten Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) in Andhra Pradesh.
About Fishing Cats
About twice the size of a typical house cat, the fishing cat is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs.
It is an adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish as its name suggests.
It is known to even dive to catch fish.
It is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
It is capable of breeding all year round but in India its peak breeding season is known to be between March and May.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Endangered
CITES: Appendix II
Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
Various threats
One of the major threats facing the fishing cat is the destruction of wetlands, which is its preferred habitat.
As a result of human settlement, drainage for agriculture, pollution, and wood-cutting most of the wetlands in India are under threat of destruction.
Another threat to the fishing cat is the depletion of its main prey-fish due to unsustainable fishing practices.
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 —
On October 29, the Supreme Court issued notice on an appeal of the Kerala government against a High Court order directing it to award the scholarships by the proportion of minorities in the overall population of the State. This case will be significant for constitutional law.
Background
The Kerala government passed an executive order in 2015 prescribing that minority communities will be entitled to scholarships.
Of the scholarships, 80% were distributed to Muslim students.
In Justine Pallivathukkal v. State of Kerala (2021), the Kerala High Court set aside this order holding that all minorities must be treated alike.
The government argued that its policy was based on the findings of the Sachar Committee report and the Kerala Padana report on the disadvantages faced by Muslims.
It pointed out that Muslims were far behind Christians, Dalits and Adivasis in college enrolment, just as they are in employment and land ownership.
Justification
The different kinds of backwardness of a community must be considered while awarding scholarship schemes.
Any other scheme defeats the purpose of offering scholarships to students from minority communities.
The High Court prohibited an allocation sensitive to social realities by adopting a form of blind equality approach.
It is important, therefore, that the Supreme Court corrects the error of the High Court.
The High Court’s reasoning suggests that access to the benefits of affirmative action must follow an approach which is blind to the relative backwardness of different communities.
Conclusion
Even when we identify disadvantaged castes or communities, we need to remember the forms of inequality and hierarchy among them. The logic of the High Court’s judgment forbids this.
India joined the other G20 countries in making a “net-zero” commitment, setting 2070 as its target year.
Why was it important to sign up for net-zero?
India’s topography — its 7,000 km-long coastline, the Himalayan glaciers in the north, and its rich forest areas which house natural resources like coal and iron ore — make the country uniquely vulnerable to climate change.
An IMF study suggests that if emissions continue to rise this century, India’s real GDP per capita could fall by 10 per cent by 2100.
India’s traditional position has been that since its per capita energy use is only a third of the global average, and it needs to continue to grow to fight poverty, costly energy reduction targets should not be applied to it.
Opportunities presented by India’s net-zero approach
It could give a clear signal of India’s intentions and provide better access to international technology, funding and markets.
We estimate that 60 per cent of India’s capital stock — factories and buildings that will exist in 2040 — is yet to be built.
The country can potentially leapfrog into new green technology, rather than being overburdened with “re-fitting” obligations.
If India can now transition to green growth, it could create a more responsible and sustainable economy.
If India’s exports achieve a “green stamp”, they may find better market access, especially if the world imposes a carbon tax on exports.
Around 2-2.5 million additional jobs can be created in the renewables sector by 2050, taking the total number of people employed there to over 3 million.
Challenges
The finances of power distribution companies need to be improved to fund the grid upgrades necessary for scaling up renewables.
India needs a coordinated institutional framework that can help overcome multiple levels of complexity like federalism, fiscal constraints and bureaucracy.
The energy investment requirement will be high, rising from about $70-80 billion per year now to $160 billion per year.
While the private sector will be required to fund much of this, the government can play a pivotal role, especially in the early days.
The transition years will be bumpy.
Inflation could be volatile till renewables reached their full potential.
Conclusion
India is on the right track but needs to redouble its efforts to remove the obstacles.
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*.
Project Sampoorna’s success in reducing child malnutrition is a model that can be easily implemented anywhere.
What is Project Sampoorna?
Project Sampoorna has been implemented in the Bongaigaon district of Assam.
It aims to target Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM).
It was launched to target the mothers of SAM/ MAM children with the tagline being ‘Empowered Mothers, Healthy Children’.
It was based on the success of the community-based COVID-19 management model (Project Mili Juli).
Key features of the project
Under this project, the mother of a healthy child of an Anganwadi Centre was paired with the target mother and they would be Buddy Mothers.
They were usually neighbours and shared similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
They were given diet charts to indicate the daily food intake of their children and would have discussions on all Tuesdays at the Anganwadi centres.
100 millilitres of milk and an egg on alternate days for the children for the first 3 months were provided so that their mothers could stabilise themselves in the newly found jobs.
Children who had not improved were checked and treated by doctors under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
Success of the project
This project has prevented at least 1,200 children from becoming malnourished over the last year.
National Nutrition Mission and the State government recognised this project in the ‘Innovation Category’.
The mothers were enrolled in Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and were thus working.
The first-ever Global Drug Policy Index was recently inaugurated.
Global Drug Policy Index
It is released by the Harm Reduction Consortium, ranks Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia as the five leading countries on humane and health-driven drug policies.
It is a data-driven global analysis of drug policies and their implementation.
It is composed of 75 indicators running across five broad dimensions of drug policy:
Criminal justice
Extreme responses
Health and harm reduction
Access to internationally controlled medicines and
Development
Highlights of the 2021 ranking
The five lowest-ranking countries are Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico.
Norway, despite topping the Index, only managed a score of 74/100.
And the median score across all 30 countries and dimensions is just 48/100.
