💥UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (April Batch) + Access XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Search results for: “”

  • Rocket Booster Coming Up – Extra Marks in Prelims 2020 landing at your doorstep | Link for Score Booster Lectures (Tikdams) inside

    Rocket Booster Coming Up – Extra Marks in Prelims 2020 landing at your doorstep | Link for Score Booster Lectures (Tikdams) inside

     

    Click here for Score Booster lectures playlist

    The final stage of the GSLV Rocket i.e. the Cryogenic stage is the most tricky and critical part of the rocket’s flight. But when it executes successfully, the entire country feels thrilled.

    Are the final weeks before the prelims exam any less tricky and critical if you desire that ‘golden entry ticket’ into the Mains Examination Hall? And thrilled you will be if you perform handsomely in the prelims paper by utilizing these few weeks smartly.

    But wait a second.

    This is not about revision. At this juncture, you are mature enough to decide your day-wise subject and time allotment. But what beyond revision? Don’t you want to outsmart the senior candidates who manage to score pretty high with relatively lesser efforts?

    Watch the video shared below. Despite it being a part of our paid programme, on request by a lot of students we are making it available to all.

    https://youtu.be/e5UJm1G1wDA

    Yes. we’re talking about Logical Paper Solving Skills or Tikdams as we call them at Civilsdaily.

    What’s exciting is that a readymade playlist of the initial videos is made available on the internet. Getting a knack over these practical techniques has completely changed the game for many candidates.

    Do take advantage of it. See how Zeeshan sir has dissected UPSC Prelims Questions of past years and tried to impart these special skills to you.

    Click here for Score Booster lectures playlist

     

    tikdam civilsdaily prelims 2020 UPSC 2021 civilsdaily ias

    Here you can access the complete playlist of freely available videos and get an entirely new perspective of looking at prelims.

    Ultimately, your Prelims Rocket will get the much-needed thrust by a combination of your command over the syllabus, lots of paper solving practice complemented by these time-tested techniques.

    All the best for your flight.

    Click to fill the form: Samanvaya for IAS 2020-21

    Aspirants, be it at any stage of preparation have a number of questions like: How to start? When to start writing answers? How and from where to cover current affairs? When to start mains? and a lot more of them.

    Well, don’t keep these questions with you. We are here for you. Let’s talk and discuss with senior mentors from Civilsdaily.

    Click to fill the form: Samanvaya for IAS 2020-21 (We’ll call you)

  • Non-War Military Tactics used by China

    An annual report from the U.S. Department of Defense describes Chinese leaders’ use of tactics short of armed conflict to further the country’s objectives, citing border conflicts with India and Bhutan among the examples.

    Try this question:

    Q. What are Non-War Military Activities (NWMA)? Discuss how China is using NWMA as a tool for its overtly ambitious expansionist policy.

    Various non-war military tactics

    The report describes Non-War Military Activities (NWMA) as one of two kinds of military operations (the other is war) used by the PLA. NWMA can be conducted internationally or domestically and encompass activities in multiple domains.

    (1) Provoking armed conflict

    • China calibrates its coercive activities to fall below the threshold of provoking conflict with the United States, its allies and partners, or others in the Indo-Pacific region.
    • It can notably include operations in which the PLA uses coercive threats and/or violence below the level of armed conflict against states and other actors to safeguard its expansionism.
    • These tactics are particularly evident in China’s pursuit of its territorial and maritime claims in the South and East China Seas as well as along its border with India and Bhutan.

    (2) Neo-imperialist tools

    • China also employs non-military tools coercively, including economic tools during periods of political tensions with countries that China accuses of harming its national interests.
    • The Belt and Road Initiative is leading to a greater overseas military presence for China in the guise to protect its economic interests.

    (3) Multilateralism as a strategic messaging tool

    • The report says that China uses multilateral forums and international organisations to generate new opportunities to expand its influence, strengthen its political influence.
    • It promotes strategic messaging that portrays China as a responsible global actor, advances its development interests, and limit outside interference in and criticism of its initiatives.
    • The Brazil Russia India China South Africa (BRICS) grouping and Shanghai Cooperation Organization are among those cited as examples of this alleged phenomenon.

  • New Official Languages in J&K

    The Union Cabinet has approved a Bill to introduce Hindi, Kashmiri and Dogri as official languages in Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to Urdu and English. As of now, the official language is Urdu and Kashmiri is recognised as a regional language.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following languages:

    1. Gujarati
    2. Kannada
    3. Telugu

    Which of the above has/have been declared as ‘Classical Language/ Languages’ by the Government?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Languages in J&K

    • In the undivided Jammu and Kashmir state, various ethnicities spoke Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri, Ladakhi, Dogri, Balti and Punjabi as their mother tongues.
    • Urdu and Hindi had become a means for inter-community communication.
    • In 1889, Maharaja Pratap Singh, the third ruler of the Hindu Dogra dynasty, replaced Persian with Urdu as the court language.
    • It was an anomaly that the three languages — Dogri, Hindi and Kashmiri — which are spoken by nearly 70 per cent of the population of Jammu and Kashmir were not approved for use in official business.

    Official languages in India

    • Article 343 of the Indian constitution stated that the official language of the Union is Hindi in Devanagari script instead of the extant English.
    • Later, a constitutional amendment, The Official Languages Act, 1963, allowed for the continuation of English alongside Hindi in the Indian government indefinitely until legislation decides to change it.
    • The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union is “the international form of Indian numerals”, which are referred to as Arabic numerals in most English-speaking countries.
    • Despite the misconceptions, Hindi is not the national language of India; the Constitution of India does not give any language the status of the national language.
    • The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists 22 languages, which have been referred to as scheduled languages and given recognition, status and official encouragement.

    Other classical languages

    • In addition, the Government of India has awarded the distinction of classical language to Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu.
    • Classical language status is given to languages which have a rich heritage and independent nature.

  • Black Holes Merger

    Billions of years ago, a collision between two black holes sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe. In 2019, signals from these waves were detected at the gravitational wave observatory LIGO (United States) and the detector Virgo (Italy).

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant ‘blackholes’ billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?

    (a) ‘Higgs boson particles’ were detected.

    (b) ‘Gravitational waves’ were detected.

    (c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through ‘wormhole’ was confirmed.

    (d) It enabled the scientists to understand ‘singularity’.

    Why in news?

    • The cause of curiosity is the mass of one of the parent black holes, which defies traditional knowledge of how black holes are formed.

    What exactly was detected?

    • It was a signal from a gravitational wave, a relatively new field of discovery.
    • Gravitational waves are invisible ripples that form when a star explodes in a supernova; when two big stars orbit each other; and when two black holes merge.
    • Travelling at the speed of light, gravitational waves squeeze and stretch anything in their path.

    Detecting gravitational waves

    • Gravitational waves were proposed by Albert Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity over a century ago.
    • It was only in 2015, however, that the first gravitational wave was actually detected — by LIGO. Since then, there have been a number of subsequent detections of gravitational waves.
    • The signal detected at LIGO and Virgo, as described by the LIGO Collaboration, resembled “about four short wiggles” and lasted less than one-tenth of a second.

    Where did it come from?

    • Subsequent analysis suggested that GW190521 had most likely been generated by a merger of two black holes. The signal likely represented the instance that the two merged.
    • It was calculated to have come from roughly 17 billion light-years away, and from a time when the universe was about half its age.

    Some questions to verify

    • The findings led to further questions.
    • One of the two merging black holes falls in an “intermediate-mass” range — a misfit that cannot be explained by traditional knowledge of how black holes form.

    Why is it unusual?

    • All the black holes observed so far belong to either of two categories.
    • One category ranges between a few solar masses (one solar mass is the mass of our Sun) and tens of solar masses. These are thought to form when massive stars die.
    • The other category is of supermassive black holes. This range from hundreds of thousands, to billions of times that of our sun.
    • According to traditional knowledge, stars that could give birth to black holes between 65 and 120 solar masses do not do so — stars in this range blow themselves apart when they die, without collapsing into a black hole.

    Observing for the first time

    • In the merger leading to the GW190521 signal, the larger black hole was of 85 solar masses —well within this unexpected range, known as the pair-instability mass gap.
    • It is the first “intermediate-mass” black hole ever observed. (In fact, the smaller black hole to is borderline, at 66 solar masses.)
    • The two merged to create a new black hole of about 142 solar masses. Energy equivalent to eight solar masses was released in the form of gravitational waves, leading to the strongest ever wave detected by scientists so far.

    Possible reasons for its formation

    • The researchers suggest that the 85-solar-mass black hole was not the product of a collapsing star, but was itself the result of a previous merger.
    • Formed by a collision between two black holes, it is likely that the new black hole then merged with the 66-solar-mass black hole — leading to gravitational waves and the signal received by LIGO and Virgo.

  • Kalasa-Banduri Dam Project

    India is on the brink of an acute water crisis, which has, to an extent, fabricated a looming threat of trans-boundary water conflicts. The conflict on the Mandovi / Mahadayi River— flowing through Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra— is one such example.

    Try this PYQ:

    What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?

    (a) Recently discovered uranium deposits

    (b) Tropical rain forests

    (c) Underground cave systems

    (d) Water reservoirs

    Kalasa-Banduri Project

    • The project undertaken by the Karnataka government proposes to divert Mandovi river water from Kalasa and Banduri canals into the Malaprabha river in the state.
    • The project received clearance from the Centre in 2002. It aims to construct a total of 11 dams on the river Mandovi.
    • The diversion of water from Kalasa and Banduri nullahs, however, has been the point of contention between Karnataka and Goa, with the latter claiming it would strip the state of its flora and fauna.

    The conflict

    • The Mandovi originates from Karnataka’s Belgaum district.
    • The Mandovi river basin falls into the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
    • The river is 81 kilometres (km) in length; 35 km of which flows in Karnataka, 1 km in Maharashtra and 45 km in Goa.
    • The seeds of the conflict were sowed over 40 years ago: In 1985, Karnataka initially explored a 350 megawatt-hydro-electric project to divert 50 per cent of the Mandovi river water in Karnataka for irrigation.
    • The plan was also to allow a steady flow of water from the power project’s storage dam after using the water for irrigation purposes in Karnataka.
    • This would have served to drinking water and irrigation purposes in Goa as well.

  • [pib] NIDHI-EIR Programme

    A brochure featuring Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) under the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) programme was launched by Dept. of Science and Technology (DST).

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The NIDHI-EIR Programme sometimes seen in news functions under the:

    a)Ministry of Science & Technology

    b)Ministry of Commerce and Industry

    c)Ministry of Finance

    d)Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

    About NIDHI-EIR

    • DST has announced a National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) is an umbrella programme for nurturing ideas and innovations into successful startups.
    • EIR programme is one of the programs introduced under NIDHI to inspire the best talents to be entrepreneurs, to minimise the risk involved in pursuing start-ups, and to partially set off their opportunity costs of high paying jobs.
    • It provides tremendous opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs to expand their networks and get critical feedback on their ventures in order to promote their entrepreneurial career goals and aspirations.

    The opportunities under NIDHI-EIR program include:

    • Guidance from experienced, innovative and highly successful entrepreneurs on the business concept, strategy or venture and insight into specific industries or markets.
    • Best practices for starting a business and broaden the professional network.
    • Co-working spaces for developing the idea into a marketable product.

  • 4th September 2020| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement

    Important Announcement:  Topics to be covered on 7th September-

    GS-1 Indian Society and Diversity of India.

    GS-4 Case studies

    Question 1)

    Is communalism the biggest threat to the National unity? Explain with examples. 10 marks

     

    Question 2)

    India lacks the governance framework around the government data sets. In light of this, highlight the importance of having non-personal government data open to citizens of the country. Also, delineate the government policies promoting the openness of the non-personal data. 10 marks

     

    Question 3)

    The disruption caused by the pandemic offers a window for India to create enduring changes through economic reforms to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the pandemic. Discuss. 10 marks

     

    Question 4)  

    “Public service is the basic objective of the welfare state”, in the backdrop of the statement discuss the basic public service values that a civil servant must aim to, to ensure effective and efficient public service delivery. 10 marks

     

     

     

    Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.

    For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check  here: Click2Join

  • [pib] Global Innovation Index 2020

    India has climbed 4 spots and has been ranked 48thby the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the Global Innovation Index 2020 rankings.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q.India’s ranking in the ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’ is sometimes seen in the news. Which of the following has declared that ranking?

    a) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

    b) World Economic Forum

    c) World Bank

    d) World Trade Organization (WTO)

    About the Global Innovation Index

    • The GII is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation. It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business a British magazine.
    • It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the WIPO, in partnership with other organisations and institutions.
    • It is based on both subjective and objective data derived from several sources, including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.
    • The GII is commonly used by corporate and government officials to compare countries by their level of innovation.
    • The theme of the 2019 GII is Creating Healthy Lives – The Future of Medical Innovation, which aims to explore the role of medical innovation as it shapes the future of healthcare.

    Components of GII

    Five input pillars capture elements of the national economy that enable innovative activities under GII are:

    1. Institutions,
    2. Human capital and research,
    3. Infrastructure,
    4. Market sophistication, and
    5. Business sophistication.

    Two output pillars capture actual evidence of innovation outputs:

    1. Knowledge and technology outputs and
    2. Creative outputs

    India’s performance this year

    • In midst of the COVID -19 pandemic, it comes as uplifting news for India and is a testament of its robust R&D Ecosystem.
    • India was at the 52nd position in 2019 and was ranked 81st in the year 2015.
    • The WIPO had also accepted India as one of the leading innovation achievers of 2019 in the central and southern Asian region, as it has shown a consistent improvement in its innovation ranking for the last 5 years.

  • Reforms that will lead to economic Poorna Swaraj

    The article discusses the long term and short term strategy to deal with the disruption caused by the pandemic and using it to bring about the reform in various sectors.

    Context

    • The pain of COVID is real, GST shortfall of Rs 3 lakh crore, expected new bad loans of Rs 3 lakh crore, and a 25 per cent first quarter contraction of GDP.
    • COVID will end, the last quarter was unique, and COVID has created a policy window for overdue reform.

    3 Questions to be answered to determine short term measures

    • 1) Are we at the start, middle, or end of the virus?
    • This matters because life will be tentative until companies and individuals know where we are.
    • 2)Will companies will they save for a rainy day or live for today?
    • This matters because lower demand is fantastic for the environment but fatal for the economy (the paradox of thrift).
    • 3) Do we have an effective solution for professions that can’t be done without social distancing until the vaccine arrives?
    • All policy can do in the short run is ensure that disease doesn’t lead to death, unemployment doesn’t lead to hunger, and working capital problems don’t lead to bankruptcy.

    Factors in favour of India in the long run

    • Our post-COVID, post-Trump, post-China, post-GST, and post US Federal Reserve economic strategy must recognise factors in our favour.
    • China’s territorial arrogance may be premature.
    • China’s credit to GDP is an unsustainable 300 per cent, many of its big companies will not survive when faced with open market, and its domestic consumption is not sufficient to substitute for global trade.
    • China’s military overreach is unifying the region and creating coalitions and alliances that they will regret but India will enjoy.
    • Muted global growth means oil prices will remain low; this is a huge macroeconomic gift for a country like India.
    • The global digitisation supercycle creates insatiable demand for software talent which would be big advantage for India.
    • Over the next few decades, most rich countries will struggle to grow.
    • This forces investors to overprice growth. And because of our past sins, India is the only big country with decades of growth left.

    Reforms India need

    • Our problem is not jobs but productivity.
    • This needs compliance reform-taking an axe through our 67,000 compliances and 6,700 filings.
    • Labour law reform.
    • Banking reform: raising our credit to GDP ratio from 50 per cent to 100 per cent by licensing more banks and fixing existing ones.
    • Education reform.
    • Ease-of-doing-business reforms: reduce the number of ministries from 52 to 15.
    • Civil service reform:cut the number of people in Delhi with the rank of Secretary from 250+ to 50, a risk-averse bureaucracy must be sidestepped or overruled.

    Consider the question “The disruption caused by the pandemic offers a window for India to create enduring change through economic reforms to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the pandemic. Discuss.”

    Conclusion

    We should focus on creating climate change for our entrepreneurs, firms, and citizens with reforms that will give them economic Poorna Swaraj. And take our per capita income of $2,500 to $10,000 in five years. If not now, then when?

  • Chapter 1 – What is Ethics? (starts 7:30pm) | Ethics 2021, September Batch | Join Ethics group on Habitat (open to all) – Link inside

    Chapter 1 – What is Ethics? (starts 7:30pm) | Ethics 2021, September Batch | Join Ethics group on Habitat (open to all) – Link inside

    DISCUSSION, CASE STUDIES AND ANSWER WRITING, DOUBTS RESOLUTION, STRATEGY, AND REFERENCE MATERIAL

    Join the Ethics Habitat group (Click here)

    (Instructions at the bottom of this page)

    Dear students,

    An important announcement, after sessions on Introductions to Ethics on Habitat group, today Sukanya ma’am will be taking the first chapter – Ethics and Human Interface.

    Our approach

    We are taking a fundamentally different approach to cover ethics.

    Here is what our observation has been with learning on Habitat

    1. Reading from a book can be monotonous. And when you are starting from scratch, completing a book can be a very time-consuming process. Definitely not the best utilization of your time. In contrast, Habitat is a very vibrant ecosystem. It gets you up and running by having deep discussions.
    2. Learning via habitat is easier, quicker, and very less straining on the brain. You could be exhausted and you will still learn a lot of things.
    3. Discussions lead to better retention. It creates strong linkages in your memory. So you do not have to mug up things. You will recall the discussion that happened.

    Every student attending the session is following the conversations and is in a very active state.

    Join the Ethics Habitat group (Click here)

    What all is going to be there?

    The group will be administered by Sukanya ma’am, UPSC toppers and in-service officers. From discussions to answer writing sessions are going to be held there in a planned manner.

    Ethics for UPSC

    Developing strategy:

    How to tackle Section A questions or what should be the approach to write the perfect case study? When so many beautiful minds will be at work, surely we will find answers.

    Planned progression:

    Discussion and syllabus coverage is going to be planned beforehand for a week to ensure we cover each and every topic in the syllabus. It is going to ensure discipline and consistency.

    Example:

    1-Sep-20 INTRODUCTION – DISCUSSION
    2-Sep-20 ETHICS AND HUMAN INTERFACE – DISCUSSION What is Ethics?; Origin of Ethics; Essence of Ethics; Determinants of Ethics; Consequences of Ethics
    3-Sep-20 GENERAL DISCUSSION 3 Schools of Ethics
    4-Sep-20 GENERAL DISCUSSION Approach to Ethics; Dimensions of Ethics; Ethics in Private and Public Relationships
    5-Sep-20 PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

    ethics plan for upsc

    Join the Ethics Habitat group (Click here)

    Personalized and targeted approach:

    It’s personalized and customized to your individual learning competencies, situation, attitude, and aptitude. You are going to learn as per your learning competencies, we are just going to make it efficient.

    Answer writing and discussion:

    This is one of the most important offerings this group has to offer. Discussions on previous year questions and topic-based questions. Answers to them are reviewed and discussed thoroughly. You don’t want to miss this session.

    ethics for upsc

    Notes and references:

    All the important readings, references, and materials are suggested and can be shared on a regular basis. Based on the reference material shared, important topics are pointed out and discussed.

    Join the Ethics Habitat group (Click here)

    INSTRUCTIONS:

    1. Click on the link provided above.
    2. Choose Web Application. (Mandatory)
    3. Enter your details. Click on ‘Register a new account’.
    4. Choose a username.

    For access through Mobile app:

    1. Install the Mobile application (click here) from your Appstore.
    2. Click on Join a Workspace.
    3. Enter this in the Workspace URL – habitat.civilsdaily.com
    4. Use the same email id and password as you used above.

More posts