“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well I’m sure someone was cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.”-Civilsdaily.
-Do You Know?
Every year, almost 15 Lakhs serious aspirants fill the form of UPSC-CSE.
Approximately, 90% of candidates sit for the exam.
Vacancy is announced between 700 and 800.
As per the above data, there is a chance of clearing for an aspirant is 0.00054% if he/she gives a try without the guidance of an experienced mentor. On the other hand, this chance% increases from 0.00053 to 80%, if CD’s core mentorship is registered.
Yes, the UPSC-CSE is one of the prestigious examinations in the country as well as worldwide. IAS stands for the INDIAN ADMINSTRATATIVE SERVICES examination and it is conducted every year by UPSC. If you dream to work for Indian administrative services and serve the nation, you should start your preparation way before while being in the college. Since college studies also need enough time, this becomes a challenge to prepare for the IAS examination as well.
You need to know how to prepare for the UPSC exam either without hampering your present job or without hampering the college course. This sounds pretty much tough though everything is possible with a proper plan and hard work.
And to fulfill your dream of becoming an IAS or IPS, you will very much need a toppers‘ mentor’s guidance.
–CD’s On-demand Mentorship Program is acknowledged by the best newspaper.Civilsdaily Hall Of Fame (Our Mentees)
Why do you need a mentor’s guidance?
How to understand & memorize the gigantic syllabus! Our toppers echoed hundreds of times that to understand the UPSC syllabus is to get your work half done. And without having a mentor, learn the same by heart infers to look for a needle in a haystack.
‘Pattern Analysis’. UPSC is the most dynamic in nature. So, the most important step is to analyze the pattern of the exam. Find ‘Do’s & ‘Don’ts’. Here, also a mentor, only a mentor can show you the right direction.
There is a wide difference between the syllabi of the Preliminary and Main Exam, the nature of questions, and consequently, the preparation strategy needs to be well thought out.
How to take Mock Tests with a Pinch of Salt! How to read & revise PYQs. ‘What to read & what not to read’ all these aspects remain at a topper’s mentor’s fingertips.
After having passed from the phase of prelims, Thousands of aspirants are very much familiar with the butterflies in the stomach at this point. Knowing the unpredictability of this journey, many believe that only hard work can make them luckier. But shockingly, even after working with all their might,90% of them remain very much clueless about their “strategy” being right or wrong.
One of the musts is to choose the right sources for preparation. How to read newspapers example: “The Hindu’, etc. Best, authentic, minimum materials for UPSC-CSE Preparation are suggested by experienced mentors.
And the last but not the least. ‘How to choose an optional subject’, ‘How to maintain time & stress’, ‘How to prepare current affairs’, Etc. only a mentor can give you the best suggestion along with a great piece of advice.
And we feel proud & satisfied that we have been mentoring thousands of UPSC aspirants who have already fulfilled their dreams of IAS, IPS, and so on.
Our dedicated mentorship has been acknowledged by the most UPSC prominent newspaper ‘The Hindu’.
What to do!
Civilsdaily’s mentors are highly qualified, with at least 3+ years of mentorship experience and two UPSC-CSE Interviews under their belts. They are well-versed in the many stages of preparation. These mentors will assist you in developing both a comprehensive and micro schedule. They’ll put together a weekly program for you, complete with mentorship calls. This schedule will be created based on a thorough examination of the importance of subjects as well as the interconnection of topics to make it easier for students to grasp the material.
Do join us if you have made up your mind about clearing UPSC-CSE on your very 1st attempt.
This is what our students say about our Allround Core Mentorship…
The ongoing discords between the Centre and states over issues ranging from the allocation of financial resources to fixing of GST rates has once again brought to the fore issues pertaining to our federal structure, the resolution of which is essential for the country’s growth.
Combination of cooperative and competitive spirit
Positive competition: It is undeniable that cooperation is key to the smooth functioning of federal design.
However, if it is coupled with positive competition among the states, then the overall result would be large-scale economic development across the country.
The competitive aspect of federalism can positively be harnessed by encouraging states to adopt each other’s best practices.
Exclusivity and mutualism: Indian federalism today enables the Centre and states to function with both exclusivity and mutualism.
Vertical and horizontal level: Cooperation between the Centre and states is required at both vertical (between Centre and states) and horizontal (among states) levels and on various fronts.
What does it mean? This includes fine-tuning of developmental measures for desired outcomes, development-related policy decisions, welfare measures, administrative reforms, strategic decisions, etc.
Steps in the direction of cooperation
Recent efforts in this direction, such as according greater leeway to states in the functioning of the NITI Aayog, frequent meetings of the prime minister with chief ministers as well as with chief secretaries and district magistrates, periodic meetings of the President of India with governors, and the functioning of “PRAGATI” to review the progress of developmental efforts have generated the requisite synergy between the Centre and states.
Positive efforts of states towards attracting investment can create a conducive environment for economic activities in urban and backward regions alike.
Healthy competition coupled with a transparent ranking system would ensure the full materialisation of the vast but least utilised potential of the federal framework.
Sector specific indices: In this direction, NITI Aayog’s initiatives such as launching sector-specific indices like the School Education Quality Index, Sustainable Development Goals Index, State Health Index, India Innovation Index, Composite Water Management Index, Export Competitiveness Index, etc. could prove to be a great contribution.
Central efforts toward synchronisation of cooperation and competition can be observed in the implementation of the 14th and 15th Finance Commission reports, which have greatly contributed to resource devolution.
Recent reform measures in the form of the New Labour Code and other amendments/enactments by the legislature also exhibit this trend.
Conclusion
The rising stature of the Indian economy on the world stage can only be strengthened by a tailored approach to cooperation and competition. The mandate to marry the two would inevitably be the collective responsibility of the Centre and the states. Any ideological differences between them will have to be inevitably put on the backburner for the great Indian federal structure to succeed and prosper.
India has set ambitious targets towards the achievement of the dual goals of climate action and sustainable development through its nationally determined contributions and energy access commitments.
As India starts a new decade of energy transition, it is an opportune time to assess where India stands in achieving its targets as well as to identify the key challenges being faced during this transition.
What is Energy Transition?
Energy transition refers to the global energy sector’s shift from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption — including oil, natural gas and coal — to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as well as lithium-ion batteries.
The increasing penetration of renewable energy into the energy supply mix, the onset of electrification and improvements in energy storage are all key drivers of the energy transition.
Regulation and commitment to decarbonization has been mixed, but the energy transition will continue to increase in importance as investors prioritize environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
Ongoing Energy Trends
Global oil production has been basically static: Some areas are in an irreversible productive decline (e.g., the North Sea) while others, mainly the continental US, are experiencing a true renaissance in the production of petroleum liquids owing to the exploitation of oil shales.
Worldwide mineral production is generally static: The mining industry is facing the problem of diminishing ore grades for most minerals and the consequence is the need of more energy to maintain the same levels of production.
Agriculture is facing an energy problem: Agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil fuels for powering agricultural machinery, for the supply of fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. The increasing prices of fossil fuels are being reflected in higher prices for all agricultural products.
Nuclear energy faces considerable difficulties: The past decade had seen a minor renaissance in the start of the construction of new plants, although still in numbers insufficient to replace the old plants being retired.
Renewable energy is seeing an explosive growth worldwide: The energy produced by the new renewables is still a minor fraction of the total of the world primary energy production, but it has been growing at exponential rates that, so far, show no sign of abating.
Focus on energy efficiency: We see an evident trend towards higher efficiency in both production and end uses of energy. It is a trend particularly evident in the residential sector, with buildings that reduce energy consumption by means of better insulation, high efficiency lighting, and more.
Crunches for Fossil Fuels: We are facing more and more difficult times in maintaining the current system based on fossil fuels. The combined effects of depletion and of climate change are pushing humankind in undue energy anxiety.
India’s Energy Transition: Context- Setting
(1) Ambitious Target
India’s energy transition is characterized by its ambitious targets. By the year 2022,
India seeks to provide all households in the country 24×7 power.
By 2022, India also seeks to install 175 GW of new renewable energy (RE) in the country.
(2) NDC Commitments
India in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) committed to three targets, which are to be achieved by the year 2030.
First, by 2030, 40% of India’s cumulative electric power installed capacity will come from non-fossil fuel-based energy sources.
Second, India will reduce the emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 33–35% (vis-à-vis 2005 levels).
Third, India will create an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (through additional forest and tree cover).
(3) Current RE Capacity
India is world’s 3rd largest consumer of electricity and world’s 3rd largest renewable energy producer with 38% of energy capacity installed in the year 2020 (136 GW of 373 GW) coming from renewable sources.
Many states are still at early stages of developing their renewable energy capacity.
This is important to consider as India seeks to add more RE capacity in the coming months and years.
() Leadership
India is also showing global clean energy leadership through initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, which has more than 70 member countries.
This is yet to materialize in its full capacity.
Various challenges
(1) Slowdown in the RE Tendering Process
India’s RE growth was at the slowest pace in the past 4 years.
There were several reasons for this, including the trends seen during the process of auctioning RE capacity.
(2) Renewable Purchase Obligations as a Ceiling
One of the mechanisms for promoting the installation of RE capacity in India has been the stipulation of targets for a mandatory minimum purchase of a certain percentage of RE by utilities.
This is known as a Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO).
Many states has been asked by its regulator to curtail further procurement of solar energy from large-scale projects.
(3) Financial crunches
When DISCOMs face cash flow issues, this results in RE producers also facing a liquidity crisis. Public sector banks are hesitant to grant loans to RE projects.
Not many private sector banks are forthcoming with loans.
Additionally, the interest rate of existing loans to RE companies has also witnessed a rise in recent months.
(4) Policy Uncertainty
Experts emphasize the importance of policy certainty for the enforcement of contracts and for the rule of law.
The value of the certainty of contracts and the importance of consistency and stability in rules and policy cannot be overstated in the energy sector in India.
Similar concerns have been raised by RE companies over the uncertainty over import duties, particularly for solar cells.
(5) Burden of demands
Much like China, India is finding itself in a precarious position.
To meet its high electricity demands, India has had to increase its reliance on fossil fuels while still developing its national grid to cope with expected surges in power demand.
(6) Others
High initial cost: While the coal-based power plants require an initial investment of about Rs. 4 crores per MW, the investments for solar and wind energy is far higher.
Weather-dependency: Renewable energy sources like solar, wind, tide, etc., are dependent on weather conditions. If the favourable weather conditions are not available, it becomes inefficient and unfeasible.
Topographic barriers: Most renewable energy plants occupy large areas of space. This brings in the issue of the cost of the vast land area and other issues related to land acquisition.
Threats to ecosystem: The turbines have caused noise pollution and are also killing birds while functioning. Ex. Decline in bustard population in Rajasthan.
Various govt. initiatives
Separate ministry: India is the first country in the world to have an exclusive ministry that is involved in the promotion and development of renewables – the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Nation Green Corridor Programme: This project aims at synchronizing energy that is produced from renewable energy sources with conventional stations.
National Clean Energy Fund: It is the fund created using the carbon tax for backing research and development of innovative eco-friendly technologies.
Draft National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy: Through this policy, the government seeks to promote new renewable energy projects and hybridization of the existing ones.
National Offshore Wind Energy Policy: This involves the utilization of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the development of offshore wind farms up to 200 Nautical Miles from the baseline.
Grid Connected Solar Rooftop programme: It involves the installation of solar panel at the rooftops of the residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings.
Small Hydropower Programme: The potential of this programme is about 20,000 MW and it is mostly in the Himalayan States where the rivers are abundant and in States which have sufficient irrigation canals.
National Solar Mission: It is a part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. It is an initiative to promote solar power in India. .
Pradhan Mantri- Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan: PM- KUSUM aims at providing financial and water security to farmers by means of utilizing solar energy capacities of 25,750 MW by 2022.
Way forward
Ensure equity: It must be ensured that the opportunities of India’s transition are shared fairly throughout society — and workers and communities are not left to face the challenges alone.
Make it people-centric: To achieve the trifecta of jobs, growth and sustainability, India must strive to put people at the centre of its energy transformation.
Provisions for coal-dependent regions: New jobs would need to be found over time for the coal miners affected by the changes, as well as for people who work in the fossil fuel power plants that will close down.
Transition funds: Policymakers must earmark special“transition funds” to help coal-dependent regions, some of which are among India’s poorest.
Increase investment by rationalizing energy subsidies: Energy subsidies must be rationalized and directed towards those who need them most.
Finance mobilization: Fiscal resources freed up through subsidy reform should then be invested in clean energy solutions, especially in underdeveloped regions and marginalised communities.
Community participation: While India’s energy transition will create many new jobs, the limited participation of women in the growing green workforce must be addressed.
Engage youth: Engaging the youth is critical to ensure that the energy transition is sustainable, inclusive and enduring.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that ambitious RE and climate targets have pushed India well on its way to a clean energy future.
However, more needs to be done to help India achieve its potential.
The recent decision to deduct off-budget borrowings from state borrowing limits reminds chief ministers to be good policy ancestors.
Financing welfare state
In A Brief History of Equality, economist Thomas Piketty suggests that “the world of the early 2020s, no matter how unjust it may seem, is more egalitarian than that of 1950 or 1900, which were… more egalitarian than those of 1850 or 1780”.
But how the welfare state is financed matters.
Changes in state borrowing limits: Adjusting state borrowing limits for their off-budget borrowings leads to transparency because they are routinely breached through vehicles for schemes whose bill comes due far in the future.
The confiscation of future spending — interest payments crowd out expenditure and revenue expenditure crowd out capex — matters because our prosperity problem is productivity, wages, not jobs.
5 Structural interventions that can create high wage jobs
1] Reduce regulatory hurdles
States control 80 per cent of India’s employers’ compliance ecosystem of 67,000+ compliances, 6,500+ filings and 26,000+ criminal provisions.
State governments that rationalise, decriminalise, and digitise their compliance ecosystem will reap lower corruption and higher formality.
2] Fix government schools
The most powerful tool for social mobility and employability is free and quality school education.
State governments that undertake a significant overhaul of school performance management (the fear of falling and hope of rising for teachers) and governance (the allocation of decision rights around resources and hiring) will create an unfair advantage in human capital.
3] Converge education and employability
States should set up skill universities that create qualification modularity (between certificates, diplomas, advanced diplomas, and degrees), delivery flexibility (equate online, apprenticeships, on-site and on-campus classrooms), and pray to the one god of employers.
Degree apprentices innovate at the intersection of employment, employability and education.
State governments that remove barriers in their path will see their population of employed learners exceed full-time learners.
4] Devolution of money and power
Cities drive productive job creation — New York City’s GDP is higher than Russia’s.
It took 70 years after 1947 for the budget of 28 states to cross the central government’s budget.
The combined budget of state governments now exceeds Rs 45 lakh crore, but 2.5 lakh municipalities and panchayats have a budget of only Rs 3.7 lakh crore.
Governments that devolve money and power from state capitals to their towns will avoid the curse of megacities and create the competition that drove China’s growth (they have 375 cities with more than a million people versus our 52).
5] Civil service reforms
State governments must sell their 1,500+ loss-making public sector units, cut civil service compensation to less than 40 per cent of budget spending, and replace expenditure with capex.
Moving from outlays to outcomes needs a new human capital regime for civil servants via seven interventions; structure, staffing, training, performance management, compensation, culture, and HR capabilities.
Shifting resources to protective and productive version of states
Nobel Laureate James Buchanan said any state had three versions — the protective state (police, rule of law, defence, courts), the productive state (common goods like roads, power, health, education, etc.), and the redistributive state.
Too many state governments accept the status quo in the first two and “innovate” in the third version.
It’s time to shift resources to the first two.
Conclusion
Chief Ministers ought to create high wage jobs, and not borrow money future generations will have to repay.
The Supreme Court has said its technical committee had so far received and tested 29 mobile devices suspected to be infected by Pegasus malware.
Why in news?
It was alleged that the government used the Israel-based spyware to snoop on journalists, parliamentarians, prominent citizens and even court staff.
What is Pegasus?
Pegasus is a spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm that helps spies hack into phones.
In 2019, when WhatsApp sued the firm in a U.S. court, the matter came to light.
In July 2021, Amnesty International, along with 13 media outlets across the globe released a report on how the spyware was used to snoop hundreds of individuals, including Indians.
While the NSO claims its spyware is sold only to governments, none of the nations have come forward to accept the claims.
Threats created by Pegasus
What makes Pegasus really dangerous is that it spares no aspect of a person’s identity.
It makes older techniques of spying seem relatively harmless.
It can intercept every call and SMS, read every email and monitor each messaging app.
Pegasus can also control the phone’s camera and microphone and has access to the device’s location data.
The app advertises that it can carry out “file retrieval”, which means it could access any document that a target might have stored on their phone.
Dysfunctions created
Privacy breach: The very existence of a surveillance system, whether under a provision of law or without it, impacts the right to privacy under Article 21 and the exercise of free speech under Article 19.
Curbing Dissent: It reflects a disturbing trend with regard to the use of hacking software against dissidents and adversaries. In 2019 also, Pegasus software was used to hack into HR & Dalit activists.
Individual safety: In the absence of privacy, the safety of journalists, especially those whose work criticizes the government, and the personal safety of their sources is jeopardised.
Self-Censorship: Consistent fear over espionage may grapple individuals. This may impact their ability to express, receive and discuss such ideas.
State-sponsored mass surveillance: The spyware coupled with AI can manipulate digital content in users’ smartphones. This in turn can polarize their opinion by the distant controllers.
National security: The potential misuse or proliferation has the same, if not more, ramifications as advanced nuclear technology falling into the wrong hands.
Snooping in India: A Legality check
For Pegasus-like spyware to be used lawfully, the government would have to invoke both the IT Act and the Telegraph Act. Communication surveillance in India takes place primarily under two laws:
Telegraph Act, 1885: It deals with interception of calls.
Information Technology Act, 2000: It was enacted to deal with surveillance of all electronic communication, following the Supreme Court’s intervention in 1996.
Cyber security safeguards in India
National Cyber Security Policy: The policy was developed in 2013 to build secure and resilient cyberspace for India’s citizens and businesses.
Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In): The CERT-In is responsible for incident responses including analysis, forecasts, and alerts on cybersecurity issues and breaches.
Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): The Central Government has rolled out a scheme for the establishment of the I4C to handle issues related to cybercrime in the country in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
Budapest Convention: There also exists Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. However, India is not a signatory to this convention.
Issues over government involvement
It is worth asking why the government would need to hack phones and install spyware when existing laws already offer impunity for surveillance.
In the absence of parliamentary or judicial oversight, electronic surveillance gives the executive the power to influence both the subject of surveillance and all classes of individuals, resulting in a chilling effect on free speech.
Way forward
The security of a device becomes one of the fundamental bedrock of maintaining user trust as society becomes more and more digitized.
Constituting an independent high-level inquiry with credible members and experts that can restore confidence and conduct its proceedings transparently.
The need for judicial oversight over surveillance systems in general, and judicial investigation into the Pegasus hacking, in particular, is very essential.
Conclusion
We must recognize that national security starts with securing the smartphones of every single Indian by embracing technologies such as encryption rather than deploying spyware.
This is a core part of our fundamental right to privacy.
This intrusion by spyware is not merely an infringement of the rights of the citizens of the country but also a worrying development for India’s national security apparatus.
The Army Training Command signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) to develop a ‘Wargame Research and Development Centre (WARDEC)’ in New Delhi.
What is Project WARDEC?
The project ‘WARDEC’ will be a first-of-its-kind simulation-based training centre in India that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to design virtual reality war-games.
The Wargame Research and Development Centre will be used by the Army to train its soldiers and test their strategies through “metaverse-enabled gameplay”.
The wargame models will be designed to prepare for wars as well as counter-terror and counter-insurgency operations.
Where will the centre come up and when?
The centre will come up in a military zone in New Delhi, confirmed RRU officials privy to the development.
The RRU will join hands with Tech Mahindra to develop the centre in the coming three to four months.
The RRU, an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), specialises in national security and policing.
Located in Gandhinagar’s Lavad village, it is an “institute of national importance” – a status granted to it by an Act of Parliament.
How will these simulation exercises play out?
Soldiers will test their skills in the metaverse where their surroundings will be simulated using a combination of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
In metaverse, the players will get a realistic experience of the actual situation.
If a weapon weighing 5 kg drops or the air pressure falls, they will feel it like anyone would in a live situation, real-time.
The game would play out player versus player, player versus computer or even computer versus computer.
How will the centre help the Army?
The Army intends to use the war-game centre to train its officers in military strategies.
Indian Army will provide data to set the backdrop of the gameplay, so that participants get a realistic experience.
In Army, it is often said that the enemy can ambush you from 361 directions, where 360 sides are around the soldier, and one is above in case there is an airdrop.
So, wargame simulation helps the Army think of all possible scenarios.
What promise does AI-based wargame simulation hold?
Apart from the armed forces, the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB can also use the metaverse-enabled simulation exercises for better training.
The use of AI can provide a totally immersive training experience as it can simulate a battlefield close to reality and map several eventualities in the probable event of a war.
How many countries use such wargaming drills?
Since the 9/11 attacks, use of information technology-enabled wargaming is preferred by several countries like the US, Israel, the UK to prepare for possibilities in case of terror attacks or war.
In March 2014, several world leaders, including former German chancellor Angela Merkel, former US president Barack Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping had played a war simulation game.
It was during the Hague Summit about how to react in case of a nuclear attack.
In that case, the target of the nuclear attack was a fictional country named Brinia.
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Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)
According to the central bank, D-SIBs are financial institutions that are large enough where they cannot be allowed to fall.
A failure of any of these banks can lead to systemic and significant disruption to essential economic services across the country and can cause an economic panic.
Therefore, y. In events of distress, the government supports such banks.
In order to be listed as a D-SIB, a bank needs to have assets that exceed 2 percent of the national GDP.
ICICI and HDFC are in first slab while SBI is in third. Bucket five represents the most important D-SIBs.
2. HARBINGER 2021 – Innovation for Transformation
Theme: ‘Smarter Digital Payments’
RBI’s first global hackathon that invites participants to develop solutions that have the potential to make digital payments accessible, Enhance security of digital payments, Enhance ease of payments.
In order to be listed as a D-SIB, a bank needs to have assets that exceed 2 percent of the national GDP.
ICICI and HDFC are in first slab while SBI is in third. Bucket five represents the most important D-SIBs.
3. NEO BANKS
A neobank is a digital bank that does not have any branches. It is entirely online.
Neobanks bridge the gap between the services that traditional banks offer and the evolving expectations of new-age customers. they tie up with RBI lesenced banks to provide services like Banking, Loans, Credit card etc.
Neobanks bridge the gap between the services that traditional banks offer and the evolving expectations of new-age customers.
4. Central Bank Digital Currency
CBDC or Central Bank Digital Currency is a legal tender issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
It is an electronic record or digital token of a country’s official currency, which fulfils the basic functions as a medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, and standard of deferred payment.
It is same as the currency issued by RBI(Physical form) in digital manner.
It can be exchanged by Cash well.
CBDC will eliminate the need for interbank settlement.
5. Co Lending or Co Originating Model
is a set-up where banks and non-banks enter into an arrangement for the joint contribution of credit for priority sector lending.
Benefits: Lower cost and Greater Reach.
NBFCs are required to retain at least a 20 per cent share of individual loans on their books. This means 80 per cent of the risk will be with the banks — who will take the big hit in case of a default.
NBFCs will be the single point of interface for consumers and they enter into loan agreements with the borrowers.
6. Renewable Energy Certificates
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are a market-based instrument that certifies the bearer owns one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated from a renewable resource.
The REC received can then be sold on the open market as an energy commodity.
REC acts as a tracking mechanism for solar, wind, and other green energies as they flow into the power grid.
In India, RECs are traded on two power exchanges — Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange of India (PXIL).
7. Waterfall Approach, Agile Approach and Barbell Strategy
Waterfall: an upfront analysis of the issue, detailed planning and finally meticulous implementation.
Agile framework is based on feed-back loops, real-time monitoring of actual outcomes, flexible responses, safety-net buffers and so on.
Barbell Strategy is a dual approach that combines two extremes, one safe and one speculative, and typically emphasizes the requirement for antifragility.
8. Inverted Duty Structure
An inverted duty structure comes up in a situation where import duties on input goods are higher than on finished goods.
In other words, the GST rate paid on purchases is more than the GST rate payable on sales.
When manufacturers cannot set off the taxes paid on raw materials against the tax on the final product, the excess tax paid on inputs gets built into the price of the product.This makes an Indian-made product more expensive than the imported finished product, affecting the competitiveness of Indian makers.
9. Credit Deposit Ratio
As the name suggests that it is the ratio which shiows how much a Bank lends out of its deposits it has mobilised.
High ratio means more dependency on deposits for lending purpose as well as high utilisation. Low ratio means Banks are not utilising the deposits properly or they are not earning as much as they can.
Mains is the most important stage of the UPSC exam. It’s also becoming more and more unpredictable, analytical and dynamic than ever before.
Mains essential Program (MEP) 2023 is your solution to practicing Mains Answer writing. Don’t procrastinate answer writing, developing a skill does not happen magically after you clear prelims.
Super 100 Mains Program 2023 is a Mentor guided comprehensive and intensive program for GS Mains papers. The focus is on making students understand the requirement of Mains Question, its elements, using information, and imparting answer writing skills for that.
In 2020, 80% of students in our smash mains programwere able to clear the mains examination.
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Why Early Start to Mains is Needed?
Let us answer this with a story
Guru Dronacharya had instructed the cook at the ashram to not serve his students food at night. One day, however, the dinner got delayed. While everyone was eating at night, suddenly, the lights went off. As Arjuna ate in the dark, he realized that there was automatic coordination between his hands and mouth. He did not require vision to put his hand into his mouth. This was an amazing discovery for him. This meant that he could orient himself to shoot the target even in the night, through his other senses. He immediately took up his bow and arrow to practice in the dark. And from then on, the entire month, he would practice day and night!
Day and night- just practice.
If you want to ace your mains answer writing, then PRACTICE is your only option. Arjuna had practiced for decades before his real test in the Mahabharata war. Even you need to start your answer writing from day one and not leave it for “after the prelims” approach.
Be Arjuna of Answer writing!
Year long Answer writing Program is helpful:
Your knowledge is tested through your answers: If you have not learned the art to articulate your thoughts on paper, then that’s a disaster waiting to happen. Studying and writing answers is a symbiotic relationship and one reinforces the other.
Helps you retain concepts, facts, and figures.
Learning the trick to formulate the structure of the answer.
Helps to revise things and learn new things not covered by conventional books.
Improves your writing speed, and handwriting.
Avoid these common mistakes with our program
Let me first develop enough knowledge to write answers: This is the biggest lie we tell ourselves. There is no such thing as “ENOUGH” in UPSC preparation. It is better to train ourselves from Day 1 – How to apply the knowledge that I have?
Not understanding the demand of the Question: Words like ‘Examine’, ‘Comment’, or ‘Discuss’ are used for a reason in the questions. Why would UPSC use different words if it wants the same structure from each question?
Structure a Mental Framework: If you lack the practice then, you are not able to create a mental framework. This leads to poor answers- you write points as you remember in a haphazard manner. This completely compromises your presentation.
Introduction, body, and conclusion: This is the ideal structure for the mains answer. One very common mistake is that students have a tendency to generalize the introduction and conclusion. Along with this, the scope of dimensions in the body is limited.
Low hanging fruits: Some elements in your answer like a diagram, reports/commissions, and supreme court judgments can uplift the quality of your answers. Students have a tendency to skip them.
The Hindu covers Civilsdaily Successful smash mains program
KNOW HOW OUR MAINS TEST PROGRAM STANDS APART?
1. Personalised Mentorship to correct you at each step
We believe in personalised individual attention. A one-to-one discussion with your Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests. It will also ensure consistency, continuity, and progressive improvement.
Individual Mentorship helps one to understand and discuss even small integrate details in answer writing. Take for example:
It is commented that Electoral bonds instead of cleansing India’s electoral system distort India’s democracy. Do you agree? Critically analyse.
Students usually 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.
Just schedule a call with our mentor to clear all your doubts and queries.
2. Quality standards of questions in our test series
Our Test series questions have consistently proven to be similar to UPSC standards.
Even our students have appreciated the quality of our questions
3. Check how mentorship have helped toppers and students across
One can better understand our process with the results we have produced, so here a look at how toppers have improved over the course of time with our mentorship intervention,
This is how the UPSC Toppers scored in test series before CD’s intervention —
12 Sectional tests: The whole syllabus will be divided into portions like history, economics, and geography. The test will be spread for a period of 8 months. This will ensure that your basic static preparation happens on a continuous basis alongside your mains answer writing program. Killing two birds with one stone!
12 Full-length tests: After the prelims, it is time to go full gear.
Personalized discussion:You doubt why you are scoring less or how you can improve your score for the next paper. No worries! Just schedule a call with our mentor to clear all your doubts and queries.
Civilsdaily’s handholding: You will be provided membership to Mains 2023 club on Habitat. There you can put up your doubts and queries. Also can be used to interact with peers on strategies to improve your mains writing. You can also contact mentors like Sajal sir, Sukanya ma’am, Sudhanshu sir and Poornima Ma’am. They all have interview-level experience, so utilize their experience to your benefit.
Civilsdaily magazine: Your current affairs will be covered with access to our 1-year subscription.
Our Philosophybehind MEP 2023
1. Question Formulation
It happens under a team of experienced Civilsdaily’s faculty. Questions framed are from the most important UPSC relevant themes and papers are based on the latest pattern of UPSC.
Our questions specifically state:
Whether they are straightforward or thought-provoking/analytical.
Whether they have subparts.
Why this question – similar previous year questions, the importance of the theme, etc.
CD Innovation – Red-green highlight – to let you know about the necessary and innovative points.
2. One-to-One Discussion
We believe in personalized individual attention. This is the biggest reason why you should join our TS. Students can schedule a call within 2 days of receiving their checked copies.
A one-to-one discussion with your Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests. It will also ensure consistency, continuity, and progressive improvement.
3. Answer Checking
Our evaluation focusses on multiple dimensions and parameters like structure, flow, presentation, contextuality, relevance to question, analytical excellence, and cross-domain inter-linkages than simply on superficial, memory-based lapses.
More than just simply providing information, our model answers cover all the aspects of a question and provide enriching points to the student. They also include:
For ‘thought-provoking/analytical’ type of questions, we’ll provide the best way to approach them.
Alternate introductions
Sub-headings and categorization to enhance readability and answer structure.
Colour coding for main arguments, reports, data, scholars, etc. OTB – Out of the box points for additional marks
The Hindu covers Civilsdaily Successful smash mains program
5. Civilsdaily’s Handholding
You’ll be assigned to a special group on Civilsdaily’s Habitat, there you can interact with different mentors like Sajal Sir, Sukanya ma’am, Ajay Sir, Sudhanshu sir, and others.
Civilsdaily’s Habitat – Desktop and Mobile view
6. Value-added material
Current affairs magazines – Civilsdaily’s Magazines are the best in terms of comprehensive coverage, superb design, and high readability.
Listicles and other relevant study material – Supplementary content provided will be helpful in covering multiple related questions.
Sukanya ma’am has firsthand experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews of UPSC. In 2019, she scored 140 in ethics. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before she has worked as a Probationary officer in Canara bank. Now at Civilsdaily, she heads Mains program and engaged in core team of Civilsdaily.
As per need we will also involved our Civilsdaily core mentors like Swatantra sir, Suhel sir etc.
The Supreme Court’s action in ordering the release of A G Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has resulted in mixed reactions.
Background
After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the assailants were tried under the notorious Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA).
All 26 accused were given the death sentence by the Special Court for various offences, including under TADA (1998).
Fortunately, the SC held that the offences under TADA were not made out since there was no case to proceed for acts of terrorism.
It also modified the death penalty for 22 persons and confirmed the same only for Nalini, Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan (1999).
Petition for mercy under Article 161: They petitioned the governor of Tamil Nadu for mercy under Article 161.
The then governor of Tamil Nadu dismissed their petition without any advice from the cabinet.
The Madras High Court ruled that the governor cannot exercise the power of pardon without the advice of the council of ministers.
The cabinet advised the governor to give reprieve only to Nalini Sriharan and rejected the case of the other three, including Perarivalan.
Perarivalan and the two other convicts appealed to the president with a mercy plea under Article 72.
Two successive presidents of India – K R Narayanan and APJ Abdul Kalam — did not pass any mercy orders.
But all of a sudden, their mercy pleas were rejected after a delay of 11 years by President Pratibha Patil.
When they were about to be executed, the convicts moved the Madras HC challenging the execution of the death warrant issued against them.
The cases were transferred to the SC, which decided that the president’s action in not considering the mercy plea within a reasonable time was improper and since the three prisoners had been on death row for 11 years, it was a fit case for commuting their sentence to life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, on February 19, 2014, the TN cabinet advised the governor to grant reprieve to all seven accused.
Once again, all of them applied for remission from the governor.
The state cabinet also advised the governor to grant pardon.
WhenPerarivalan’s mother, filed a case for parole, the court noting the inordinate delay observed: “the Governor of T N, a constitutional authority, cannot sit on the state’s recommendation on the release of all seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for so long” (July 2020).
The court was informed that the governor was awaiting the final report of the CBI’s Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA).
Role of MDMA
The role of MDMA itself came up for criticism by the SC in January 2018 and it observed that the agency did not appear to have made “much headway”.
The court observed that the question of reopening the case against them will not arise as they had been already convicted for murder and conspiracy.
Article 20(2) of the Constitution guarantees that no person can be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.
Use of powers under Article 142 by the Supreme Court
Once again, the process of granting mercy to the seven accused began with a resolution passed by the T N Assembly on September 9, 2018.
On the same day, the state cabinet advised the governor to give reprieve to all seven prisoners.
On being compelled by the court, the governor stated that the matter was to be dealt with by the President.
It was at this stage the matter went back to the SC.
It was finally decided that the authority to grant pardon is with the governor and he is bound by the advice of the state government.
The court also ruled that the action of the governor in delaying the matter for more than 2.5 years was unacceptable.
Exercising its power under Article 142 as well as considering all the relevant circumstances, the SC ordered Perarivalan’s release.
Limitations on governor’s power
Giving reprieve to persons sentenced to the death penalty, even in the exercise of the plenary powers by a governor, has limitations.
In 1978, Parliament amended the Criminal Procedure Code and introduced Sec 433A by which in such cases, prisoners cannot be released from prison unless they had served a minimum of 14 years in prison.
Reformatory penal system of India
India’s penal system is undoubtedly reformatory and not retributive.
The SC ruled on this issue by stating “a barbaric crime does not have to be visited with a barbaric penalty.”
It is also surprising that the successive governments at the Centre appeared to be guided in this case by geopolitical considerations rather than this country’s laws.
Conclusion
The question now is whether the six other prisoners will receive the same relief or will there be a confrontation between the state government and governor once again. Let us hope that wisdom prevails and the governor’s office is not manipulated for narrow political considerations.
In April this year, the Union government released a guidance document on the setting up of a ‘public health and management cadre’ (PHMC) as well as revised editions of the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) — for ensuring quality health care in government facilities.
Background
The need for a public health cadre and services in India rarely got any policy attention.
Limited understanding: The reason was that even among policymakers, there was limited understanding on the roles and the functions of public health specialists and the relevance of such cadres, especially at the district and sub-district levels.
However, the last decade and a half was eventful.
The initial threat of avian flu in 2005-06, the Swine flu pandemic of 2009-10; five more public health emergencies of international concern between years 2009-19; the increasing risks and regular emergence and re-emergence of of new viruses and diseases (Zika, Ebola, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever, Nipah viruses, etc.) in animals and humans, resulted in increased attention on public health.
National Public health Act: In 2017, India’s National Health Policy 2017 proposed the formation of a public health cadre and enacting a National Public Health Act.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the status quo.
In the absence of trained public health professionals at the policy and decision making levels, India’s pandemic response ended up becoming bureaucrat steered and clinician led.
Different cadres and its implications
Lack of career progression opportunities: At present, most Indian States (with exceptions such as Tamil Nadu and Odisha) have a teaching cadre (of medical college faculty members) and a specialist cadre of doctors involved in clinical services.
This structure does not provide similar career progression opportunities for professionals trained in public health.
Limited interest: It is one of the reasons for limited interest by health-care professionals to opt for public health as a career choice.
The outcome has been costly for society: a perennial shortage of trained public health workforce.
Public health cadre
The proposed public health cadre and the health management cadre have the potential to address some of these challenges.
With the release of guidance documents, the States have been advised to formulate an action plan, identify the cadre strengths, and fill up the vacant posts in the next six months to a year.
A public health workforce has a role even beyond epidemics and pandemics.
A trained public health workforce ensures that people receive holistic health care, of preventive and promotive services (largely in the domain of public health) as well as curative and diagnostic services (as part of medical care).
Revised version of IPHS and significance
This is the second revision in the IPHS, which were first released in 2007 and then revised in 2012.
The regular need for a revision in the IPHS is a recognition of the fact that to be meaningful, quality improvement has to be an ongoing process.
The development of the IPHS itself was a major step.
The revised IPHS is an important development but not an end itself.
In the 15 years since the first release of the IPHS, only a small proportion — around 15% to 20% — of government health-care facilities meets these standards. .
If the pace of achieving IPHS is any criteria, there is a need for more accelerated interventions.
Opportunities such as a revision of the IPHS should also be used for an independent assessment on how the IPHS has improved the quality of health services.
Implementation challenges
The effective part of implementation is interplay: policy formulation, financial allocation, and the availability of a trained workforce.
In this case, policy has been formulated.
Financial allocations: Then, though the Government’s spending on health in India is low and has increased only marginally in the last two decades; however, in the last two years, there have been a few additional — small but assured — sources of funding for public health services have become available.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission grant for the five-year period of 2021- 26 and the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) allocations are available for strengthening public health services and could be used as States embark upon implementing the PHMC and a revised IPHS.
Availability of trained workforce: The third aspect of effective implementation, the availability of trained workforce, is the most critical.
As States develop plans for setting up the PHMC, all potential challenges in securing a trained workforce should be identified and actions initiated.
Conclusion
The public health and management cadres and the revised IPHS can help India to make progress towards the NHP goal. To ensure that, State governments need to act urgently and immediately.
Back2Basics: Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS)
IPHS are a set of uniform standards envisaged to improve the quality of health care delivery in the country.
The IPHS documents have been revised keeping in view the changing protocols of the existing programmes and introduction of new programmes especially for Non-Communicable Diseases.
Flexibility is allowed to suit the diverse needs of the States and regions.
These IPHS guidelines will act as the main driver for continuous improvement in quality and serve as the bench mark for assessing the functional status of health facilities.
