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  • What are the 5 Methods to Maintain Daily Consistency in Current Affairs, Optional & GS Preparation?|| What are the 4 Factors you Need to Work on if you can’t Study Regularly?|| Register for Free 1-on-1 Mentorship if You are Yet to Restart Your UPSC Preparation

    Since its inception, UPSC-CSE has had toppers from various academic and socio-economic backgrounds who have cracked the exam with flying colours. It’s clear that one doesn’t have to go to Delhi or a coaching centre to crack UPSC-CSE.

    If education, geographical and economic background doesn’t matter, then what does? Attitude, or precisely consistency. If you are persistent and adamant to clear UPSC- CSE and have given more than two attempts till now, then you must replace that with consistency. Because, being persistent might lead you to the door, but it’s consistency that unlocks it.

    In last month’s Samanvaya 1-on-1 counselling sessions, our expert Civilsdaily mentors reached out to aspirants to address their concerns regarding UPSC-CSE preparation. These are the responses they often heard from them —

    How do I start preparing after a gap of 3-4 months?

    It’s easy for me to maintain consistency in GS Preparation but not Revision

    I study daily, but can only remain focused for 2-3 hours. How do I improve?

    My long working hours don’t allow me to study daily.

    Why am I losing interest in completing a subject? It’ s easier to read a new subject everyday.

    This week, we have decided to answer all these questions and take additional questions in our personalised & motivational counselling session.

    Key-Takeaways from This Week’s Samanvaya, Free 1-on-1 Counselling Session?

    If you want to experience the same mentorship as Rishab Sharma, then here’s the good news – your first UPSC mentorship is on us and is absolutely free! All you have to do is confirm your slot now.

    This prompted us to reach out to one of our students who is currently an IPS officer, Rishabh Sharma. He cleared the exam in 2020 with AIR 454. After his first attempt, Rishabh had enrolled in Smash Mains program under Sajal sir and also attended our free interview program. Cracking the mighty UPSC-CSE the second time, Rishabh explains what consistency means to him —

    UPSC doesn’t just test your intellect. It tests your patience, mental strength, your emotions, the very character of yours . As far as the journey of CSE is concerned you might know when to start, but you never know when the journey will come to an end. So be consistent and enjoy the journey.

    Every topper follows a plan, a method or strategy that makes it easier for them to study on a daily basis and complete the traget modules of the day. In this free live counselling session, we will explain the many ways you can do to avoid faltering on your preparation.

    1. The difference between a consistent study pattern v/s an inconsistent one. How UPSC-CSE becomes easier over time with consistency?

    2. Social media distraction. How to avoid spending long hours on social media? 

    3. Number of ideal breaks everyday. Why is it necessary to reward yourself with a short break from time to time?

    4. Best way to plan your timetable in advance? Why daily timetable should not be rigid but yearly timetable should be well defined? 

    5. How to remain consistent when you are not opting for coaching? 

    6. What are the practical methods to maintain regularity in studies. Tips to sustain the fire and passion for studies.

    7. Why using Public Libraries is a way to remain consistent in UPSC-CSE preparation? 

    8. What are the 4 factors that determine if you can remain consistent for a year? If not, then why should you work on them first before starting UPSC-CSE preparation?

    Get Motivated to Maintain Overall Consistency for UPSC

    It’s understandable we are humans and not programmable robots who can maintain the same level of interest everyday. However, maintaining an overall consistency throughout our preparation is neccessary to clear this competitive and vast exam. 

    Our philosophy behind MENTORSHIP is to get you out of this Snooze cycle. This ensures that you are the BEST VERSION of yourself in this journey. If you are under the impression that mentorship is weekly calls you attend, then you are mistaken, my friend. Trust us, your mentor will be your ‘FRIEND, PHILOSOPHER AND GUIDE’.

    TO EACH THEIR OWN – Every aspirant is different. Their strengths and weaknesses are different. Their time availability is also different. Identifying this is important so you don’t end up making unrealistic targets and lose momentum. Your mentor will make sure you start slow but remain consistent to build your confidence. Making your schedule structured based on our experience of working with 2500+ students is our first priority. 

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    TRACK YOUR PROGRESS – When you see yourself grow, it becomes easier to motivate yourself to push boundaries. Tracking your progress can happen in many ways like mentorship calls or chat sessions or by regular tests. The idea is to ensure that you don’t go off track in your preparation, and even if you do, we have your back.

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    EVOLUTION – A constant guidance is important to bring consistency to your UPSC preparation. Guidance is not about clearing your doubts or asking you to study when you don’t. It is also about the evolution of your preparation. This is where you and your mentor work as a team. A constant effort to PLAN AND BUILD UP YOUR ABILITY to learn in a faster and more efficient way.

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    TALK IT OUT – The biggest hurdle in achieving your highest level of consistency is the emotional part. Every now and then, you. surround yourself with negative thoughts, you feel scared and depressed. Instead of resolving these emotional issues, you avoid them as it seems like a waste of your precious time. You have to understand that ignoring emotional troubles does not solve them. What your doing is building an emotional time bomb that may burst a week before your mains or prelims! This is where your MENTOR AS A FRIEND comes in. All our mentors have been through this journey. We understand your fears and anxieties. So, TALK IT OUT.

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    Don’t let inconsistency keep you away from your dreams.

    Fill up the SAMANVAYA form given below. Let us know your problems and we will find a solution to it, just like our students say ” TOGETHER WE CAN AND WE WILL”. BOOK YOUR SLOT FOR YOUR FREE 1-0N-1 COUNSELLING SESSION IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS

    How has Civilsdaily Mentorship, helped Aspirants become Toppers?

    The most difficult challenge faced by EVERY candidate is inconsistency. Be it inconsistency in studies, answer-writing practice, covering the syllabus, or revision, every candidate finds it difficult to cope with. But how do successful candidates manage to FIGHT Inconsistency so consistently?

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    In UPSC 2020, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in their exams. In the top 100, every 3rd ranker was a Civilsdaily student.

     A very recent success story would be Vishwa Shah, student of Civilsdaily Mentor, Sukanya Ma’am. Vishwa has cleared the GPSC exam to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Gujarat. He has penned a thank-you note yesterday. Heartiest Congratulations to Vishwa!

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    One of our other Civilsdaily Student, Shubham Nagargoje cleared the exams in 2020 to become an IPS Officer. Shubham was gracious enough to let us know how he felt about Civilsdaily Samanvaya Guidance under Parth sir.

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    To know how all of them cleared the exam with our mentorship, visit the Unherd Podcast.

    Now that results are announced for UPSC 2021 Prelims, out of 15 out of 25 students of Santhosh Gupta sir have been recommended to Mains. One such student, Rahul expresses his gratitude and extends his appreciation.

    Most of our Mentors like Sudhanshu sir, Sajal sir, Santhosh sir, Pravin sir, Parth Verma sir and Sukanya Ma’am were UPSC aspirants themselves and have attended UPSC Mains more than five times and UPSC Interview more than twice. Hence their mentorship is always a blend of the best test series, comprehensive notes and current affairs knowledge.

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    All of them dedicate their time weekly to give 1-on-1 mentorship to every student where they discuss last week’s performance and next week’s approach.

    Be it Telegram, Whatsapp or Habitiat channels, they are always available and clear student’s doubts in a turnaround time of 24 Hours.

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    Why Civilsdaily Mentors are the GPS for Your UPSC-CSE Preparation

    Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to get out of the tunnel you have to follow the direction of the light! Our mentors’ give you direction which is divided into daily modules. All you have to do is study and complete them on time.

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    See the source image
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    As every year passes by, we don’t get confident by the previous years’ performance and become laidback. Instead, we become more hungry to convert all our students into toppers.REGISTER HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR FIRST FREE SAMANVAYA COUNSELLING SESSION IN NEXT 24 HOURS

    How are Current Civilsdaily Students Gearing up for UPSC-CSE 2022?

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    Initially, our Civilsdaily student Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE back in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 35 marks out of 200 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.

    She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.

    In Smriti’s own words she describes her Samanvaya Mentorship Experience to be —

    Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support for UPSC. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants. That’s when my mentor, Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end mentorship via value added notes, classes, test series and detailed evaluation.”

    Similarly our another Civilsdaily student, Ashish sums up his Samanvaya experience with Civilsdaily mentor, Pravin Sir, “Because of Pravin sir’s support, I am able to understand a topic in lesser time.”

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    This is how Pravin sir evaluates Ashish’s Mains Test Series every week. After every test series evaluation, Pravin sir schedules a 1 hour call to discuss how Ashish can improve his marks and the sources he can refer for key topics.

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    It’s Your Turn Get the Free 40 Min Counselling Session By a CD Mentor

    Civilsdaily mentors are so dedicated, consistent and focused for your UPSC goal, that you will eventually become focused into turning your dreams to reality.

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    At the core of Civilsdaily UPSC mentorship, lies the fact that each one of you will have a unique journey while preparing for the exam. Some will get through on the first attempt without much effort while others will take both more time and more effort.

    We want to understand you better to help you optimize your journey so you can focus on the right things and not waste time on the wrong ones. We are asking you to tap into the valuable experiences of mentors who underwent the same grind and realize the pitfalls and understand the shortcuts to make it.

    In the first counselling session, we will understand your weaknesses. We then help you to stick to one plan or strategy throughout your preparation. We will then follow up with you on a daily basis to check if you are right on track. TALK TO OUR MENTORS & CLARIFY YOUR DOUBTS NOW

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  • Prelims Spotlight: Major Rivers in India

    Now Free Tikdam Sessions on our Space

    Dear Aspirants,

    This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2022

    JOIN THE SPECIAL SESSIONS ON OUR OFFICIAL SPACE

    Morning 12:00 PM  – Prelims Spotlight Session

    Evening 06:30  PM  – MCQs Session

    Noon 04:00 PM – Special Session by Shubham Sir

    Evening 08:00 PM  – Tests on Alternate Days

    Evening 09:00 PM – TIKDAM: Art of Elimination Session.

    Download Habitat app from the Playstore Join our Official Civilsdaily Space for GS and CSAT Here

    12th Apr, 2022

    Clueless about 2023 Preparation?

    Fill up this form to schedule a free on-call discussion with senior mentor from Civilsdaily. Once submitted we will call you within 24 hours.
    Fill the Form HERE

  • [Burning Issue] India-Nepal Relations

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

    Context

    The Prime Minister of Nepal made his first bilateral visit abroad to India since taking his oath in July 2021. The visit was a success in terms of launching connectivity projects and signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). Bilateral dialogues, strengthened economic connections and more sensitization towards the people of Nepal is what India needs to pursue to fulfil the objectives of its ‘neighborhood first policy’.

    Historical Background

    • Ancient ties: The relationship between India and Nepal goes back to the times of the rule of the Sakya clan and Gautama Buddha.
      • Initially, Nepal was under tribal rule and only with the coming of Licchavi rule in Nepal did its feudal era truly begin.
    • Cultural relations: From 750 to 1750 AD period saw a shift from Buddhism to Hinduism in Nepal and witnessed widespread cultural diffusion.
      • India and Nepal share similar ties in terms of Hinduism and Buddhism with Buddha’s birthplace Lumbini located in present-day Nepal.
    • India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations that exist between India and Nepal.
    • Nepal is an important neighbor of India and occupies a special significance in its foreign policy because of the geographic, historical, cultural and economic linkages/ties that span centuries.
    • In recent years, India’s relations with Nepal have witnessed some ‘lows’. 
      • The relationship between the two took a nosedive in 2015, with India first getting blamed for interfering in the Constitution drafting process and then for an “unofficial blockade” that generated widespread resentment against India.

    Highlights of the recent visit

    • Important Projects in discussion:
      • The operationalization of the 35 kilometre cross-border rail link from Jayanagar (Bihar) to Kurtha (Nepal) will be further extended to Bijalpura and Bardibas.
      • The 90 km long 132 kV double circuit transmission line connecting Tila (Solukhumbu) to Mirchaiya (Siraha) is close to the Indian border.
    • Agreements signed:
      • Agreements providing technical cooperation in the railway sector
      • Nepal’s induction into the International Solar Alliance,  becoming the 105th country to become a signatory to the Framework Agreement of the ISA.
      • Between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation ensuring regular supplies of petroleum products were also signed.
    • India called for taking full advantage of opportunities in the power sector, including through joint development of power generation projects in Nepal and the development of cross-border transmission infrastructure.
    • Launch of Indian RuPay card in Nepal: This would open new vistas for cooperation in financial connectivity, and is expected to facilitate bilateral tourist flows as well as further strengthen people-to-people linkages between India and Nepal.

    Various facets of India-Nepal ties

    1. Cultural ties

    • While enjoying their own peculiarities, both India and Nepal share a common culture and ways of life.
    • Religion is perhaps the most important factor and plays a predominant role in shaping the cultural relations between these two countries, marked by a cross country pilgrimage on Char Dham Yatra, Pashupatinath Temple and some Buddhist sites.
    • A considerable section of Nepalese comprises of Madhesi population which has familial & ethnic ties with states of Bihar, UP.

    2. Strategic ties

    • Nepal is a buffer state between India and China.
    • Several Nepali Citizens are also deployed in Indian defence forces as well.

    3. Political ties

    • Constitutional turmoil is not new in Nepal. India has played a vital role in the democratic transition in Nepal against the monarch King Gyanendra.
    • Nepali Congress (NC) is one of the country’s oldest parties which supports relations with India, but the communist parties show a tilt towards China.

    4. Economic ties

    • Nepal is an important export market for India. India is Nepal’s largest trading partner.
    • Himalayan rivers flowing through Nepal can be used for Hydroelectric power projects which will benefit border states of UP, Bihar and other adjacent areas.
    • There are three major water deals between Nepal and India, namely the Kosi Agreement, the Gandak Treaty and the Mahakali Treaty. India also exports Power to Nepal.
    • Also, Nepal is the largest borrower of Indian Currency in South Asia.
    • Nepal has escalating trade deficit with India. Nepal and India have concluded bilateral Treaty of Transit, Treaty of Trade and the Agreement of Cooperation to Control Unauthorized Trade.

    5. Connectivity

    • The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship was sought by the Nepali authorities in 1949 to provide for an open border and for Nepali nationals to have the right to work in India.
    • The BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) in which Nepal is a partner will permit the member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers.

    6. Multilateral and Regional Fora

    • Both Nepal and India work in tandem in the United Nations, Non-aligned Movement and other international fora on most of the important international issues.
    • Both the countries have been deeply engaged in the regional and sub-regional frameworks of SAARC, BIMSTEC and BBIN for enhancing cooperation for greater economic integration.

    China’s role in Nepal – a matter of concern

    • Once considered a buffer state between India and China, Nepal is now showing an inclination towards Beijing. China is trying to stimulate and tempt Nepal with multiple aids, economic growth and acquisition.
    • China is pursuing a more assertive foreign policy and considers Nepal as an important element in its growing South Asian footprint and being a key partner in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
    • In 2016, Nepal negotiated an Agreement on Transit Transportation with China and in 2017, China provided a military grant of $32 million to Nepal.
    • In 2019, a Protocol was concluded with China providing access to four seaports and three land ports to Nepal. China is also engaged with airport expansion projects at Pokhara and Lumbini.
    • China has overtaken India as the largest source of foreign direct investment with the annual development assistance being worth $120 million.
    • Recently, the ratification of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose project saw street protests and big-time social media campaigns supported by China.

    Indo-Nepal Border Disputes

    India and Nepal share about an 1800 Km long border. There are 2 major border or territorial disputes:

    1) Kalapani

    • The Kali River in the Kalapani region demarcates the border between India and Nepal.
    • The Treaty of Sugauli signed by the Kingdom of Nepal and British India (after the Anglo-Nepalese War) in 1816 located the Kali River as Nepal’s western boundary with India.
    • The discrepancy in locating the source of the Kali River led to boundary disputes between India and Nepal, with each country producing maps supporting their own claims.
    • However, India has control of Kalapani since the 1962 Indo-Sina War.
      • Kalapani is a valley that is administered by India as a part of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. It is situated on the Kailash Mansarovar route.

    Why is Lipulekh important for India?

    • For India, the Lipulekh pass has security implications.
    • After its disastrous 1962 border war with China, it was concerned about a possible Chinese intrusion through the pass and has been keen to hold on to the strategic Himalayan route to guard against any future incursions.
    • The link road via Lipulekh Himalayan Pass is also considered one of the shortest and most feasible trade routes between India and China.

    2) Susta Region

    • It is about 140 sq. km of land in Uttar Pradesh at the Nepal border in the Terai area. India has control of the territory. Nepal claims this territory.
    • The change of course by the Gandak river is the main reason for disputes in the Susta area.
    • Susta is located on the bank of the Gandak river.
    • It is called the Narayani river in Nepal.
    • It joins Ganga near Patna, Bihar.

    Issue of Simultaneous floods in Bihar and Nepal

    • Some of Nepal’s biggest river systems originate in the Himalayan glaciers which then flow into India through Bihar.
    • During the monsoons, these river systems flood causing many problems for Bihar.
    • It is a necessity that there is process-driven coordination between the Centre and the Government of Bihar to handle the flooding in Nepal’s Terai and North Bihar (largely the Mithilanchal region).

    Which are those flooding rivers?

    • Nepal’s three biggest river systems—Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali—originate in the high mountain glaciers, flow through the country and then enter India through the state of Bihar.
    • During the monsoon season, these river systems often get flooded due to heavy rains/landslides in Nepal which create floods in India’s most flood-prone state—Bihar.

    Why Nepal is Important to India?

    1. It acts as a strategic buffer against the aggression of China.
    2. The Pakistan factor: peddling of FICN, drugs and terrorism through the Indo-Nepal border. It makes the cooperation of Nepal important.
    3. India and Nepal share common culture: There are huge Nepali communities in Darjeeling and Sikkim. Many marital relations across the border exist.
    4. National Security: There is a lot of interdependence. Gurkha Regiment in Indian Army is known for its valiance.
      • Nepal could play in the hands of China which could be detrimental to Indian interests. Hence they need to be kept as close as possible.
    5. Ministry of External Affairs term India-Nepal Relation as “Roti-Beti ka Rishta” (Relation of food and marriage)
    6. Energy Security: Nepal has the potential of 80 GW of hydroelectricity. But only 600 MW potential is realized so far.
      • Nepal’s lack of cooperation in this regard has hindered development. The surplus could be used for Indian border states.

    Major Irritants in bilateral ties

    1) Nepali nationalism and Anti-India sentiments

    • Anti-India Sentiment in Nepal is largely politically motivated as it is wrongly perceived as India’s backing to Monarchy.
    • The widening gap in understanding each other’s concerns has helped feed Nepali nationalism and create a dense cloud of distrust and suspicion between the two countries.
    • The gap widened after India chose to impose an economic blockade in response to Nepal’s sovereign decision to promulgate a democratic constitution.

    2) China factor

    • Increasing Chinese presence in Nepal is one of the major concerns for India. China’s move to extend the rail link to its border with Nepal can reduce its dependence on India.
    • Fundamentally these Chinese agencies are building up anti-India sentiments in Nepal.
    • Nepal’s assent for the ‘One Belt One Region’ (OBOR) initiative of China is viewed by India with suspicion.
    • Nepal has been slowly fallen prey to China’s inroad debt trap policy.

    3) India has ignored the changing political narrative for long

    • The reality is that India has ignored the changing political narrative in Nepal for far too long.
    • For too long India has invoked a “special relationship”, based on shared culture, language and religion, to anchor its ties with Nepal.
    • The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship which was sought by the Nepali authorities in 1949 is viewed as a sign of an unequal relationship, and an Indian imposition.

    4) Open borders

    • The issue of open borders has also been a point of debate in Nepal in recent years- Nepalese people argue that India is benefiting more from it than Nepal.
    • It has an open border with India which leads to problems such as illegal migrants, counterfeit currency entry, drug and human trafficking.

    5) Madhesis Issue

    • Madhesis share extensive cross-border ethnic and linguistic links with India. India’s involvement in Nepali politics and the upsurge in Madhesi have deep roots in history and unless resolved.
    • Madhesis protest and India’s blockade soured the relations for the worst.

    Way Forward

    1) Dialogues for Territorial Disputes

    • In the best spirit of friendship, Nepal and India should restart the water dialogue and come up with policies to safeguard the interests of all those who have been affected on both sides of the border.
    • India needs to be a sensitive and generous partner for the neighbourhood first policy to take root.
    • The dispute shall be negotiated diplomatically under the aegis of International law on Trans-boundary Water Disputes.

    2) Sensitising Towards Nepal

    • The onus is on India to rethink on a long-term basis how to recalibrate its relationship with Nepal provided Nepal should not ignore its relations with India.
    • It should maintain the policy of keeping away from the internal affairs of Nepal, meanwhile, in the spirit of friendship, India should guide the nation towards more inclusive rhetoric.

    3) Strengthening Economic Ties

    • The power trade agreement needs to be such that India can build trust in Nepal. Despite more renewable energy projects (solar) coming up in India, hydropower is the only source that can manage peak demand in India.
    • For India, buying power from Nepal would mean managing peak demand and also saving the billions of dollars of investments that would have to be invested in building new power plants, many of which would cause pollution.

    4) Investments from India

    • The Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) signed between India and Nepal needs more attention from Nepal’s side.
    • The private sector in Nepal, especially the cartels in the garb of trade associations, are fighting tooth and nail against foreign investments.
    • It is important that Nepal conveys this message that it welcomes Indian investments.

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    Detailed Application Form (DAF) is one of the most important documents that you might have filled for UPSC interviews. A major part of the interview will revolve around the information and details provided in the DAF. It is more than your CV.

    Your ability to defend your DAF before the panel is going to decide your success. Anticipating and preparing for the questions based on your DAF is an essential part of the interview preparation.

    As a part of Transcend Interview Guidance Program for UPSC 2021 we’ve prepared and compiled a high-quality comprehensive questionnaire.

    upsc mock interview 2021

    Upcoming Mock interview and session

    This week’s mock interview dates have been fixed.

    • Mock interview this week 12th April onwards – (Book your slot)   
    • Time: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.  
    • Mode: Online/Offline 

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    Interview slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

    Panelists for Mock Interviews: 

    1. Shri Shankar Aggarwal, IAS (retd.)
    2. Dr. Noor Mohammad, IAS (retd.)
    3. Dr. P.K. Agrawal, IAS (Retd.)
    4. Shri T. N. Thakur, IAAS (retd.)
    5. Shri V. P. Singh, IRPS
    6. Mrs.Aditi Gupta, Corporate Leadership Specialist
    7. Prof. U.M. Amin, Jamia Milia University
    8. Mr. S. D. Singh, IFoS (Retd.)
    9. Mr. Kunal Aggarwal, IRS
    10. Mr. Debraj Das, IPS

    Tentative: Shri Harsh V. Pant (Observer Research Foundation), Shri SN Tripathi, IAS (Director IIPA), Shri Yogesh Narain (Retd. Defence Secretary), Shri Dipankar Gupta (Indian Sociologist), and others.

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    Transcend Interview Guidance 2021: Program inclusion

    1. Mock interview and detailed analysis + feedback
    2. Most important issues coverage – current and structural
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    5. DAF analysis and one-on-one sessions with mentors
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  • WHAT IS KARISHMA’s (AIR 14 UPSC 2020) SECRET TO SUCCESS?

    WHAT IS KARISHMA’s (AIR 14 UPSC 2020) SECRET TO SUCCESS?

    It is always a proud moment for us when our students succeed, and we feel humbled when they thank us for our guidance. Karishma Nair (AIR 14, 2020) wrote a personal note to Sajal sir and Civilsdaily after securing AIR 14 and in the letter she explained how our mentorship helped her succeed!

    Under the guidance of Sajal sir, Karishma Nair received regular detailed feedback. Each and every answer was analysed and every mistake removed. She says in the letter that the feedback helped her improve every day.

    Not only that, her mentor was always available to guide her. She received a structured approach to the UPSC syllabus and answer-writing along with help and motivation throughout her preparation. With time, she was able to improve her performance and was able to secure AIR 14 in UPSC 2020. You can read her letter below:

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  • Care economy

    Context

    The importance of care work is now widely acknowledged and covered in various international commitments such as the SDGs. However, the investment in the care economy has not matched the pace.

    Significance of care work

    • Care work encompasses direct activities such as feeding a baby or nursing an ill partner, and indirect care activities such as cooking and cleaning’.
    • Whether paid or unpaid, direct or indirect, care work is vital for human well-being and economies.
    • Unpaid care work is linked to labour market inequalities, yet it has yet to receive adequate attention in policy formulation.
    • Paid care workers, such as domestic workers and anganwadis in India, also struggle to access rights and entitlements as workers.
    • Greater investment in care services can create an additional 300 million jobs globally, many of which will be for women.
    • In turn this will help increase female labour force participation and advance Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.
    • This year, to commemorate International Women’s Day, the ILO brought out its new report titled, ‘Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender-equal world of work’.
    • The report highlights the importance of maternity, paternity, and special care leave, which help balance women’s and men’s work and family responsibilities throughout their lives.

    Gaps in the current policies

    • Bridging the gaps in current policies and service provisions to nurture childcare and elderly care services will deliver the benefits of child development, aging in dignity and independent living as the population grows older and also generate more and better employment opportunities, especially for women.
    • Maternity leave: Maternity leave is a universal human and labour right.
    • Yet, it remains unfulfilled across countries, leaving millions of workers with family responsibilities without adequate protection and support. India fares better than its peers in offering 26 weeks of maternity leave, against the ILO’s standard mandate of 14 weeks that exists in 120 countries.
    • However, this coverage extends to only a tiny proportion of women workers in formal employment in India, where 89% of employed women are in informal employment (as given by ILOSTAT, or the ILO’s central portal to labour statistics).
    • While paternity leave is recognised as an enabler for both mothers and fathers to better balance work and family responsibilities, it is not provided in many countries, including India.
    • Access to quality and affordable care services such as childcare, elderly care and care for people with disabilities is a challenge workers with family responsibilities face globally.
    • Limited implementation: While India has a long history of mandating the provision of crèches in factories and establishments, there is limited information on its actual implementation.
    • Domestic workers, on whom Indian households are heavily reliant, also face challenges in accessing decent work.
    • According to the Government’s 2019 estimates, 26 lakh of the 39 lakh domestic workers in India are female.
    • Ensure decent work for domestic workers: While important developments have extended formal coverage to domestic workers in India, such as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act and the minimum wage schedule in many States, more efforts are required to ensure decent work for them.

    Way forward

    • Increase spending: India spends less than 1% of its GDP on the care economy; increasing this percentage would unfurl a plethora of benefits for workers and the overall economy.
    • Strategy: In consultation with employers’ and workers’ organisations and the relevant stakeholders, the Government needs to conceptualise a strategy and action plan for improved care policies, care service provisions and decent working conditions for care workers.
    • 5R Framework: The ILO proposes a 5R framework for decent care work centred around achieving gender equality. The framework urges the Recognition, Reduction, and Redistribution of unpaid care work, promotes Rewarding care workers with more and decent work, and enables their Representation in social dialogue and collective bargaining.

    Conclusion

    A human-centred and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that benefits workers, employers, and the government, requires a more significant investment in and commitment to supporting the care economy, which cares for the society at large.

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  • Tackle communally charged questions in UPSC Interviews: Watch how Ravi Kumar answered | Schedule your Mock + DAF questionnaire | Limited seats

    Tackle communally charged questions in UPSC Interviews: Watch how Ravi Kumar answered | Schedule your Mock + DAF questionnaire | Limited seats

    Book your slot for UPSC Mock interviews (paneled by ex UPSC members) and get a dedicated mentor, on-call DAF analysis, DAF-based personalized questionnaire, and Situational questionnaire (FREE)

    UPSC panelists are going to ask unsettling communal/community-based questions. You need to be prepared for such questions. How Ravi Kumar, AIR 84, UPSC 2020 tackled a bouncer of a question, watch the video.

    As a part of Transcend Interview Guidance Program for UPSC 2021 we’ve prepared and compiled a high-quality comprehensive questionnaire.

    upsc mock interview 2021

    Upcoming Mock interview and session

    This week’s mock interview dates have been fixed.

    • Mock interview this week 12th April onwards – (Book your slot)   
    • Time: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.  
    • Mode: Online/Offline 

    Do You Know That Civilsdaily Has a 75% Success Rate In UPSC Interview?

    Interview slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

    Panelists for Mock Interviews: 

    1. Shri Shankar Aggarwal, IAS (retd.)
    2. Dr. Noor Mohammad, IAS (retd.)
    3. Dr. P.K. Agrawal, IAS (Retd.)
    4. Shri T. N. Thakur, IAAS (retd.)
    5. Shri V. P. Singh, IRPS
    6. Mrs.Aditi Gupta, Corporate Leadership Specialist
    7. Prof. U.M. Amin, Jamia Milia University
    8. Mr. S. D. Singh, IFoS (Retd.)
    9. Mr. Kunal Aggarwal, IRS
    10. Mr. Debraj Das, IPS

    Tentative: Shri Harsh V. Pant (Observer Research Foundation), Shri SN Tripathi, IAS (Director IIPA), Shri Yogesh Narain (Retd. Defence Secretary), Shri Dipankar Gupta (Indian Sociologist), and others.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is WhatsApp-Image-2022-03-15-at-4.15.52-PM.jpeg

    Transcend Interview Guidance 2021: Program inclusion

    1. Mock interview and detailed analysis + feedback
    2. Most important issues coverage – current and structural
    3. DAF 2 curation
    4. Personalized mentorship
    5. DAF analysis and one-on-one sessions with mentors
    6. DAF based personalized questionnaire
    7. Situational and Roleplay questionnaire

    Do You Know That Civilsdaily Has a 75% Success Rate In UPSC Interview?

  • Fake news in social media

    Context

    Social media platforms have adopted design choices that have led to a proliferation and mainstreaming of misinformation while allowing themselves to be weaponised by powerful vested interests for political and commercial benefit.

    Problems created by social media and issues with response to it

    • The consequent free flow of disinformation, hate and targeted intimidation has led to real-world harm and degradation of democracy in India: Mainstreamed anti-minority hate, polarised communities and sowed confusion have made it difficult to establish a shared foundation of truth.
    • Political agenda: Organised misinformation (disinformation) has a political and/or commercial agenda.
    • Apolitical and episodic discourse in India: The discourse in India has remained apolitical and episodic — focused on individual pieces of content and events, and generalised outrage against big tech instead of locating it in the larger political context or structural design issues.
    • Problematic global discourse: The evolution of the global discourse on misinformation too has allowed itself to get mired in the details of content standards, enforcement, fact-checking, takedowns, de-platforming, etc.
    • Moderating misinformation vs. safeguarding freedom of expression: Such framework lends itself to bitter partisan contest over individual pieces of content while allowing platforms to disingenuously conflate the discourse on moderating misinformation with safeguards for freedom of expression.
    • The current system of content moderation is more a public relations exercise for platforms than being geared to stop the spread of disinformation.

    Framework to combat disinformation

    • Consider it as a political problem: The issue is as much about bad actors as individual pieces of content.
    • Content distribution and moderation are interventions in the political process.
    • Comprehensive transparency law: There is thus a need for a comprehensive transparency law to enforce relevant disclosures by social media platforms.
    • Bipartisan political process for content moderation: Content moderation and allied functions such as standard setting, fact-checking and de-platforming must be embedded in the sovereign bipartisan political process if they are to have democratic legitimacy.
    • Regulatory body should be grounded in democratic principles: Any regulatory body must be grounded in democratic principles — its own and of platforms.
    • Three approaches to distribution that can be adopted by platforms: 1) Constrain distribution to organic reach (chronological feed);
    • 2) take editorial responsibility for amplified content;
    • 3) amplify only credible sources (irrespective of ideological affiliation).
    • Review of content creator: The current approach to misinformation that relies on fact-checking a small subset of content in a vast ocean of unreviewed content is inadequate for the task and needs to be supplemented by a review of content creators itself.

    Conclusion

    Social media cannot be wished away. But its structure and manner of use are choices we must make as a polity after deliberation instead of accepting as them fait accompli or simply being overtaken by developments along the way.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Why central services cannot be exempted from reservation for disabled

    Context

    In a case that the SC is currently hearing, the petitioner has challenged a notification issued by the Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities (Department).

    About the notification

    • The impugned notification exempts all categories of posts in the Indian Police Service, the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police Service, as well as the Indian Railway Protection Force Service from the mandated 4 per cent reservation for persons with disabilities under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 [RPwD Act].

    Issues with the notification

    1] Against combat and non-combat classification

    • On the same day as the issuing of the impugned notification, the Department also issued another notification exempting from the purview of reservation under the RPwD Act posts only of “combatant” nature in the paramilitary police.
    • This classification between combat and non-combat posts was premised on a clear recognition of the fact that persons with disabilities are capable of occupying non-combat posts in the central forces.
    • The Department has offered no justification as to why this classification would not hold good as regards the services covered in the impugned notification.

    2] Against the identification of posts suitable for reservation for the disabled

    • The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had identified a range of ministerial/civilian posts as being suitable for reservation for the disabled.
    • The impugned notification goes against this identification exercise, by virtue of its blanket character.
    • Further, on November 22, 2021, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs released Draft Accessibility Standards/Guidelines for built infrastructure under its purview (police stations, prisons and disaster mitigation centres) and services associated with them.
    • These Draft Standards state that the police staff on civil duty could be persons with disabilities.

    3] Exercise of power

    • As per the RPwD Act, the grant of any exemption has to be preceded by consultation with the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.
    • However, the office of the chief commissioner has been lying vacant for many years, with the secretary in the Department officiating in that role.

    Conclusion

    This case presents the SC with the opportunity to rule that the disabled are not a monolithic entity. Every disabled person is different, and it is unfair to paint all disabled people with the same broad brush, based on a stereotypical understanding of what they can do.

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