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  • Starting a comprehensive series on IR for Pre & Mains

    Hey guys,

    Hopefully you have read the primer post on IR above – https://www.civilsdaily.com/an-ias-aspirants-guide-to-cracking-international-relations/

    What we intend to do in subsequent long form posts is – Profile each major/ minor organisation of importance under these heads –

    1. Origin
    2. Members
    3. Reason for existence
    4. Advantage India?
    5. Evolution and importance in world scenario
    6. Concerns

    —-

    We are focussing on ASIA first – covering all important organisation of developmental/ economic importance – example – SAARC, BIMSTEC, MGC, ASEAN, BRICS etc.

    Here’s the plan – We do not want to miss out on any information worthy of inclusion so get your thinking hats on and share important news around these organisations in this thread. Look forward to your help and contribtion.

  • An IAS Aspirant’s guide to cracking International Relations

    IR forms quite an important portion of the GS Paper 2 syllabus – UPSC Syllabus | GS Paper 2 | IAS Prep. In this post, we are going to analyse this portion, answer some basic doubts and help you get started with IR.

     

    After this introductory post, jump onto the compiled collection on International Organisations – Click here

    #1. Why do IAS aspirants tend to neglect IR?

    1. Because it is so overwhelmingly dynamic
    2. Not much of an importance in prelims

    For a beginner, the pain point with IR is a general lack of familiarity with the subject matter. It is very less likely that one could/would Modi Ji’s entourage in real time. The deals and negotiations, the untimely withdrawal from strategic talks and the bold diplomatic parley etc. seem so overwhelming that we look skywards! Without a proper backstory, these developments look disconnected.

    Besides, when would we be mugging the articles for polity or read about those eloping monkeys for environment & biodiversity, haan?

    Add to that, prelims is not really bullish about the complexities of inter country relations, hence aspirants tend to leave IR for the end of time.

    Confronted by these practical issues, we are going to relook the IR portion of IAS Mains (GS Paper 2) and World Affairs (Prelims) to try and help you get familar with them.

    #2. Official UPSC Syllabus of International Relations (IR) for GS Paper II

    1. India and its neighborhood – relations
    2. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
    3. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
    4. Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate

    #3. Deconstructing IR – What are you exactly supposed to prepare for?

    You are not supposed to do a PHD in IR. That’s for sure. Why this red flag? The flipside of preparing sincerely for UPSC is that sometime the subject matter becomes so appealing that you start to get drawn into it. You tend to lose a sense of space and time and inadvertently step into the shoes of a hardcore foreign policy analyst (which is not what UPSC wants you to be!)

    Reading about the genesis of ASEAN and taking note of its evolution trajectory is great but getting into the thick of each meeting with micro-analysis on the terms of agreements may leave you with a lot lesser time to prepare for other subjects.

    Focus on two things – Get the context and remember the facts correct!

    [Get the context] India and the world: Catch up with the backstory and look out for conflicts

    As an aspirant, you are expected to think through the changing scenario, understand the evolution and weigh the pros and cons of a treaty/ diplomatic move which disrupts the status quo. Easier said than done, right?

    Understand India’s backstory first

    To get upto speed with the backstory, you may try to get your hands on Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor. This will do good to bring you upto speed with our past with most of the important nations. Doing this increases your odds of understanding the current affairs with some context. Alternatively, we will also try to come up with short anecdotal pieces wrt our evolution with our neighbours and the world.

    Once you are comfortable with that, look out for latest conflicts and controversies which shape our negotiations with various bilateral, regional and global groupings. UPSC is going to pick up one of these and grill you on that!

    Other useful resources:

    1. Ministry of external affairs for bilateral relations – The holy grail of all official communications
    2. Distinguished lecture series (MEA)
    3. C. Raja Mohan @Indian Express – He often comments on our bilateral developments and many of the pieces are wonderful to read
    4. India’s world @RSTV
    5. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) – engages in advanced research in international relations, especially strategic and security issues
    6. Ask and expect @IDSA – aimed at promoting awareness and discussion on contemporary security issues. A very active forum on IR
    7. Latitude @Time Now – It’s not all about Arnab!

    [Remember the facts] Important institutions, International groupings: Find out why they exist and you will be comfortable with them

    The problem with these venerated organisations and groupings is that there are so many of them and they are ever so evolving! Don’t believe us? Here’s an example –

    • 1975: Group of 6 – FMs and central bank governors from France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States
    • 1976: Group of 7 – G6 + Canada
    • 1997: Group of 8 – G7 + Russia (in 1997) + European Union (considered an implicit part)
    • 2014: Group of 7 – Russia suspended after Crimean crisis

    There is a Group 20 (G20) as well but we will come to that. Point being that to understand this jugglery well, you need to know each organisation and its evolution in full and then connect the dots as they intersect with each other.

    This part of the IR makes up for a lot of prelims related questions – Remember a question on Mekong Ganga Cooperation in Pre 2015?

    We plan to cover each of these organisations, starting ASIA first so that you get a sense of their origins, members, evolution and conflicts and most of all, their reason of existence!

    #4. Tackle the low hanging fruits first!

    All pumped up? Let’s get you familiar with some of the questions from IR @Mains (2013 – 2015) in the next post.

    Post that, we will be tackling the journey of important regional and international organisations which affect India’s interest in some way or the other. These are important both wrt prelims and mains. UPSC has an uncanny habit of asking for member countries or important reports and you have got to prepare well for that!

    More in this series – 

  • What does the gdp value in percentage mean??

    ESurvey mentioned GDP to be 7.5%. It is 7.5% of what?? Of last year? Base Year?

  • iOS App

    please make an iOS application for such a great site.
    “request”
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  • a kind request to a boon for readers

    please it is a humble request, make this website very precise; the only reason is that the website “civilsdaily” is full of knowledge and the readers get lost themselves in one another topics, finally creating ‘triveni sangam’ of knowledge!

  • What is economic integration and what are the different types of trade agreements?

    This is an oft confused sphere of economics and often impedes with your understanding of the world affairs. We often read terms like FTA, PTA, Economic Union in articles related to WTO, bilateral talks etc etc. and breeze past them with a rough understanding or what they might mean.

    • FTA (Free Trade Agreement) – Free mein trade? Possibly no money to be paid for trade barriers etc etc.
    • PTA (Preferential)? Some kind of preference, maybe
    • CEPA, CECA – God knows what!

    This rough understanding may not be always correct. To give you an example – PTA is almost similar to FTA (every PTA eventually becomes an FTA), CECA and CEPA are quite similar.

    What is economic integration & why go for it?

    Economic integration refers to trade unification between different states by the partial or full abolishing of customs tariffs on trade taking place within the borders of each state.

    1. The objective of this integration is to increase the combined economic productivity of the countries – easier access of goods and services
    2. Other by-product of integration is competitiveness. If 4-5 countries come together to form a closely knit family (of sorts), they would create barriers to entry of an external (possibly much larger player) to disrupt the region with cheaper goods

    What is a trade agreement?

    A trade agreement is a contract/agreement/pact between two or more nations that outlines how they will work together to ensure mutual benefit in the field of trade and investment.

    This can be bilateral (2 countries) or multilateral (2+ countries). 

    Once a trade agreement is finalised, we get to read about these Trade Blocs – a type of intergovernmental agreement, where regional barriers to trade, (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states.

     

    All the gyan about FTA, PTA, CECA/PA, EU!

    #1. PTA – Preferential trade agreement

    A preferential trade agreement, is a trading bloc that gives preferential access to certain products from the participating countries.

    This is done by reducing tariffs but not by abolishing them completely. A PTA can be established through a trade pact. It is the first stage of economic integration. 

    Some examples:

    • Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA): formerly known as the Bangkok Agreement, was signed on 31st of July 1975 as an initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). ESCAP is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region.
    • India-Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA): Mercosur is a sub-regional blogs with its member countries – full members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

    #2. FTA – Free trade agreement

    A free-trade area is a trade bloc whose member countries have signed a free-trade agreement (FTA), which eliminates tariffs, import quotas, and preferences on most (if not all) goods and services traded between them.

    Please note that you cannot distinct PTA and FTA by just saying that the former has fewer barriers and later has no barriers at all. FTA does not mean everything is free! PTA closely follows FTA.

    • Evolution of SAPTA to SAFTA (South Asian PTA to FTA)
    • ASEAN FTA (Trade agreement within the Southeast asian nations)

    What would happen if countries want to move more closer (beyond material trade)?

    When the countries go beyond FTA and agree for a greater degree of economic integration which includes improving the attractiveness to capital and human resources, and to expand trade and investment, it would result in CECA or CEPA.

    • CEPA = Comprehensive Economic partnership Agreement
    • CECA = Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

    CECA and CEPA have very minor differences, if you will. While CECA comes first with elimination of tariffs, CEPA comes later including trade in services and investments. CEPA has a bit wider scope than CECA.

    #3. Customs Union

    An agreement among countries to have free trade among themselves and to adopt common external barriers against any other country interested in exporting to these countries.

    Some examples:

    • Southern Common Market – Mercosur (Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Paraguay; Uruguay; and Venezuela)
    • Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Its member states are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates
    • East African Community (EAC) – composed of 5 countries in the African Great Lakes region in eastern Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

    #4. Common Market

    A type of custom union where there are common policies on product regulation, and free movement of goods and services, capital and labour.

     

    #5. Economic Union

    An economic union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a common market with a customs union. The participant countries have both common policies on product regulation, freedom of movement of goods, services and the factors of production (capital and labour) and a common external trade policy.

    #6. Economic and monetary union

    When an economic union involves unifying currency it becomes a economic and monetary union. Eg – Euro!

  • How to go ahead with agriculture optional for IAS Mains prep?

    Hey aspirants,

    This post is aimed to help you in forming your strategy for Agriculture optional for Civil Services and Forest Services Exam, considering its various aspects.

    #1. Who should opt for Agriculture?

    Anyone who has academic background in Agriculture, Life Sciences, Botany, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, Zoology, Dairy and other related fields.

    Any aspirant with no prior knowledge of Biology should not opt it. She may score good in Paper I which is like general studies but Paper II becomes the eliminating factor if it is not covered exhaustively.

    #2. Why should one not opt for ‘Botany’ instead?

    If you have Botany as your graduation or master’s subject then surely you should go with botany, but just in case if you don’t have interest in remembering all families characteristic features among others, then Agriculture is best optional for you.

    Secondly, Paper II of Botany and Agriculture is quite similar if you see the syllabus but if you analyse last year question papers, if you will see that questions in Agriculture are easy in comparison to ‘Botany Paper II’.

    #3. Can I change my optional from Botany to Agriculture?

    Yes, surely you can switch if you are struggling with Botany. In fact, you will be having an edge against Agriculture fresher aspirant as your Paper II of Agriculture is already completed (almost) if you have covered Botany syllabus exhaustively.

    #4. Is it scoring?

    Of course it is. If you have similar background as mentioned above, you must go for it.

    There is a myth that Agriculture is more scoring than Botany. Please don’t keep this in mind while preparing. Both are science subjects so if you know your concepts you can score equally in both.

    Both subjects has equal percentage of topics that aspirant has to mug up (literally). Think of families (Cryptogams, Phanerogams) in Botany, and Horticulture and Pathology (Diseases and Measures) in Agriculture.

    Agriculture got popular among Botany/ life sciences students after CSE 2013 in which Botany Paper was bit difficult and Agriculture was very easy. But in CSE 2015, both of these optionals were on equal footing. So, please do not hold opinions of one optional being easier than other, any optional demands right strategy and interest to excel.

    #5. How much time it takes to prepare?

    4-5 months, if you study Agriculture 12-15 hours per week. This should be enough. Also, it depends on how much can you recall your graduation concepts.

    Plant Breeding is the most conceptual, time taking and scoring part of the syllabus, while horticulture and pathology needs your notes making and revising skill to retain the topic.

    Recommended books for Agriculture:

    1. Plant Breeding Principles and Methods- B.D. Singh
    2. Fundamentals of Genetics- B.D. Singh
    3. Plant Physiology- V.K. Jain
    4. Introductory Soil Science- D.K. Das
    5. Economics of Farm Production and Management- Raju and Rao
    6. Principles of Agronomy-T.Y. Reddy and G.H.S. Reddi
    7. Plant pathology- P.D. Sharma
    8. Introduction to Horticulture- N Kumar

    Let us know if you find any problem in getting these books. Submit your comments below.

    These books covers whole syllabus. Also, one need not to study each and every chapter, instead cover topics syllabus wise. Syllabus is designed in a chronological way which will help in building concepts if you go according to it.

    No need to look out for other books. ICAR Handbook is not recommended at all instead cover relevant chapters of Economic Survey and Year Book related to Agriculture, it will help for both optional and GS.

    Few topics like Food Production and Consumption trends, Extension Schemes, Protein Energy Malnutrition can be googled. Ecology part can be covered from any standard book which you study for GS.

     

    Also, Quora helps in answering various general and specific questions related to the subject. Many senior scientists and academicians of Agriculture are there. You can follow Agriculture India topic there.

    Problems in Agriculture Sector in India

    Farmers and Climate Change

    Few websites helps in keeping abreast with current happenings and govt. initiatives.

    Dept. of Agriculture website

    Agriculturetoday

    Hope this may helps!

     

    Published with inputs from Vimal

  • The First Firangis series (Modern India) compiled here

    Compiling the series here (6 parts) for everyone’s benefit:

    part 1 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-warren-hastings-and-his-time-as-gov-general-of-india/

    part 2 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-hey-pitt-whats-your-act/

    part 3 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-lord-cornwallis-his-permanent-settlement/

    part 3 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-lord-cornwallis-his-permanent-settlement/

    part 4 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-extracting-land-revenue/

    part 5 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-the-marquess-of-wellesley-his-subsidiary-alliance/

    part 6 – https://www.civilsdaily.com/the-first-firangis-chapter-6-the-anglo-mysore-wars/

  • Thought for food: Coco(a) Bonds and Dosa Economics!

    Economics just became a whole lot more edible this week. It all started rather unexpectedly, with a student asking the RBI governor why dosas have become more expensive despite the disinflation phenomenon in India. Pat came the answer.

    It’s not the dosa, stupid. It’s the tawa! It’s the tawa that has retained its price and reluctance to change the tawa technology has cost us, dear. Pun intended. And it doesn’t quite end there, does it? The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the earth. And the hand that rules the ladle, rules the worth.

    Simple! Labour prices have skyrocketed, so much so that they nullify the reductions we get from ingredients. Ahem, not that we are getting too many reductions from those ingredients there. Important to note that the dosa is primarily made from urad dal, after all.

    The statement from the Guv created quite a furore. The RBI has issued a new guideline saying that all future governors should necessarily be good cooks and have to know all ingredients going into major food dishes. The Bhumata Ranragini Brigade is now actively considering marching into the inner sanctum of the RBI saying they always knew that women would make better governors.

    The RBI has launched a new Big Dosa Index to counter the very popular Big Mac Index as the Indian contribution to quick-fix inflation gauges. The CSO, ruffled at being sidelined, cleverly pointed out that since dosas are only sold on retail, the BDI can only be seen to be a quick gauge of CPI movements and is hence, an incomplete index. The RBI reacted sharply by also announcing the creation of a Tawa-Index to understand wholesale price movements.

    Startup India has announced a new VC funding line to whoever gets new technology for creating dosas. It’s expected that support to this line of credit will be declared in the upcoming Budget through the Tawa Hatao, Dosa Bachao Yojana.

    Commercial banks now know what it takes to reduce their NPAs. Risk rating on the over-the-counter food service business units has gone down drastically since they are seen to be the only guys who can continue to charge high and make high profits, no matter what the inflation numbers. The new base rate or PLR will be termed the DLR, the Dosa Lending Rate.

    On a more international front, Deutche Bank made headlines with its coco(a) bonds ratings taking a beating from S&P. “Their standard is very poor,” said an RBI spokesperson. “We always knew that this cocoa business is very risky. Had they listened properly to the Hon Governor, they would have issued Dosa bonds. That is the only way ahead.” The Chinese are also thinking of replacing Dim Sum Bonds, which have in letter and spirit become Dim Sum since the devaluation, with Dosa bonds.

    In the meanwhile, the FM was fairly terrorised when he was asked to host the halwa ceremony. Despite the fact that no student interaction was allowed at all, he made sure that he knew the halwa recipe by heart before meeting the media. For good measure, he also learnt the prices of rawa, sugar and ghee, all by heart.

    Rumour is that after getting to know the phenomenal prices of ghee and dry fruits, he wants to create a halwa cess to fund such colossal expense programmes. It is estimated that this single move will move the fiscal deficit from 3.9 per cent to the magic number 3.6 per cent. The RBI governor is happy. Dosas sure work!

  • Request to Civils Daily Fertinity

    Can you explains all the Missiles of India, they capacity, technology and abduction by which forces of India?

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