@Root, is it possible to start a “revision quiz card”, in which last months important news related questions would be there, in everyday news cards sections, for prelims 2017?
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can india again witnessed the repeat of national emergency of 1975??
please give your valubale answer and views
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10 Years in IAS – How fulfilling is the administrative service?
In bid to understand the system better, a small questionnaire was framed and sent across with a request to keep the tone as real as one can.What came back is an honest truth and grounded admission of his years in service. Nothing less was expected of an officer whose preparation day stories have been an inspiration to all!Here is Govind Jaiswal for you –1) How fulfilling have these 10 years been? Any professional achievement – big or small that you would like to share?
A- The past 10 years went about understanding ‘The system’, its complexities. Dealing with people, their aspirations, I believe, makes this service the most tricky due to the inherent never ending complexities in human wish list, needs. Some genuine, some not so. But the satisfaction that you brought positive change in someone’s life is other worldly. Some times your hard work will get recognition and most of times it won’t. But its OK, no grudges. The main focus should be improvement of other people’s lives.I have experienced work life in one of the most difficult areas of India, in a district named Zunheboto, Nagaland. Tried bringing change, ease of life for the tribals there. The hardships of these people are unimaginable. Lateron I worked in Vet Department ,Delhi. Highlight was making all applications online, ease of access. Recently transferred from Sport department of Goa to Fisheries department. Worked towards bringing professional attitude in sports management( not very surprised on our medal tally in Rio after the experience there), as the poor performance at the international level can only be turned around by making amends at grassroots level. I could continue there for only 5 months, reason you can guess.2) I know it has been quite many years and your heart warming story of preparation continues to inspire many. But tell us, how did you get to mature in the service. What were some of the reality calls, difficult instances which you had to tackle.
A- This service is so amazing in nature that you will be matured as you go about. You have to deal with public, the best management practices in the world you will get to learn in IAS. From the very start you have to tackle lakhs of people.
I think conducting elections in nagaland was the most difficult and amazing time of my service as no one could help you there but only your reputation and moral courage.
3) Do you see any change, in the nature of civil servants being selected by upsc compared to your time? Is it for better?
A- I think every generation has more exposure compared to its previous one as it is required to tackle situation in present technological regime. We have to trust UPSC, their knowledge in the game of selection.
4) How different is the service from what a general aspirant believes it is?
A- Most aspirants thinks that after entering in service your life will be very easy and you will get all comforts. But its not like that. There is lot of pressure and complex situations which you can not imagine. Another myth about facilities, in Nagaland I was not having even a single helper to assist me at home. Lived in rented house for more than 4 years.
5) Any work related instances where the stuff you studied during IAS preparation came very handy. How you utilised it?
A- Study material always help you as in Civil services exam you have to analyse the subject. So in routine File system your analyzing power helps you a lot. This is what I observed so far.
6) Qualities” which you believe separates officers from the rest. Kindly relate some experiences.
A- Qualities are very individual specific, but I think an officer should be very courageous and bold for taking decision. You will face enormous pressure once you take stand for any good cause. So you need to learn standing for issues you believe in.
7) How big a change can a lone IAS officer really bring? How receptive is the system towards individual efforts?
A- Not only changes in system, but its otherwise too, brings lot of changes in your personal life. Now, any system, either government or your own family, you just think of trying to do something new & it will try to resist you as its very comfortable to follow the traditional way. But you have to go ahead for it, as you have been tasked with the responsibility to mould society as per new and changing system.
8) Now that its been 10 years since you joined the service, is it worth the pain, the struggle?
A- Its worth the struggle, if you are ready for the next Bigger struggle. If you are fantasized just by the Red Beacon, please do not join the service.
9) Words of advice for the late starters or for any future could be aspirant?
A-Don’t worry if you are a late starter, or haven’t started yet. Only thing I can say is, If you’re late, run faster than others.
Good Luck.
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Hi I need help from CD guys. Sir i am currently preparing for upsc and have join
Hi I need help from CD guys. Sir i am currently preparing for upsc and have joined a class. But i want to join your prelim course also. I am going to attempt 2017 Upsc seriously. I am concerned about time management if i joined Prelims course. So please can you guide me further??
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22 Sept 2016 | Target Mains: GS Questions & DNA Framework
GS I (Urbanisation)(Analytical)(Simplex)
Demand-Positives and negatives of mission, challenges and solution to it.
Approach-
– Objective, deliverables and implementation of Smart City Mission. Impact on the growth, development etc. Changes in the lives, amenities, environment etc.(7 marks)– Challenges and solution (3 marks)
GS II (Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary)
Demand-
Use of language by politicians and failure of Judiciary. Deal with the simple.
Approach-– Analyze the decline, reasons with the help of current examples. Explain the impact on society and politics. (4 marks)
– Judiciary role and steps taken to curtail by Judiciary. (3 marks)
– Way ahead, steps to be taken to correct image and decline (3 marks)
GS III ( Economics) (Hattrick)
Demand-
With the an estimated 180 million Muslims living in India ‘Islamic Banking’ or ‘Interest Free Banking’ can prove to be very effective. Discuss such various factors and help in strengthening of democracy .
Approach-– Need for adopting-India is a country with a 15 per cent Muslim population, highest in a non-Islamic country and second highest in the world offers huge opportunities to exploit. So it has to be channelized Fall of the titans like Lehman Brothers because it reflects the economic downturn in the west and the need of alternative sources of FDI for the Indian economy. Discuss such points (4 marks)
– Indian banking sector has opened up considerably in the past decade or so and openness to interest-free banks is a logical next step. Certain faiths prohibit the use of financial instruments that pay interest. Discuss these factors in relation to strengthening of democracy.(3 marks)
– Way ahead, challenges and solution (3 marks)
GS IV (Attitude) (Simplex) (Analytical)
Demand-
Open question. Demand is to get away from this attitude and behaviour.
Approach-
– Take examples of day to day lives and impact of this demon on the society, individual, surroundings, etc.
– Corrective steps on these, listening to opinion of others (Dalai lama quote) etc.
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22 Sept 2016 | GS 1 | The objective of Smart City Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. Discuss. What are the challenges to Smart City mission?
GS I (Urbanisation)(Analytical)(Simplex)
The objective of Smart City Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. Discuss. What are the challenges to Smart City mission?
Best answer
Narayana Sarma wrote the best answer for this question and got a score of 5.5/10. The answer is being reproduced below for everyone’s convenience. Of course these answers can always be improved. (Best answer of a particular only involves those given on that day, later answers may not have been checked)
Today, a smart and sustainable development of urban sector based on inclusive growth is essential. This is to be realized through the proposed ‘Smart City Mission.’ The deliverables of a smart city should bridge economic and social gap. Some of them are as follows:
-Adequate supply of clean water
-Proper sanitation
-Efficient last mile delivery
-Efficient urban mobility especially in public transportation
-Robust IT connectivity
These can be achieved by applying the so called ‘smart solutions’ such as:
-e-Governance Eg: myGov platform, Common Service Centres (CSCs) to digitize certificate distribution and other activities
-CCTV monitoring in cities to avoid crimes
-Intelligent traffic management Eg: Green Corridor, where a vehicle moving at a speed of, say 40 kmph on road can pass all signals without stopping
-Intelligent parking systems, in which, for instance, warning sensors could be placed on the sides of parking space
-Smart meters for water supply
Though the smart city mission offers attractive solutions and makes people’s life easier, it does face some of the challenges as listed below:
-Huge pumping in of funds is required
-Citizenry participation should be ensured
-Requirement of skilled populace to efficiently utilize the technological solutions
-Smart cities should be climate resilient and also, be capable of withstanding a disaster
-Privacy and security of people’s data acquired for smart solutions should be ensured
Some of the solutions which have been taken and required are as follows:
-myGov platform, though promotes participatory approach, has no effective reach due to lack of awareness among people. Spreading awareness about inclusive decisions could address this
-The funding can be acquired through a Gross Budgetary Support to concerned ministry, levying of cess (as in case of Swachh Bharat), appealing to the goodness of people resulting in their voluntary contribution (as in case of Give it up campaign in LPG), taking loans from Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB)
-Following a ‘twin city’ approach to mimic a model city in addressing specific problems/areas. Eg: Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India and Esslingen in Germany have agreed to be ‘twin cities.’
-Proposed Universal Identity Authority to take care of Aadhar data management & security
The success of Smart City Mission will depend on its ability to transform the lives of people in future, that too, in a sustainable manner. -
22 Sept 2016 | GS 2 | The decline in political discourse is evident in the language and imagery used by politicians to belittle their rivals. Judiciary has failed to rein in such people. Discuss.
GS II (Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary)
The decline in political discourse is evident in the language and imagery used by politicians to belittle their rivals. Judiciary has failed to rein in such people. Discuss.
Best answer
Kunal Aggarwal wrote the best answer for this question and got a score of 4.5/10. The answer is being reproduced below for everyone’s convenience. Of course these answers can always be improved. (Best answer of a particular only involves those given on that day, later answers may not have been checked)
Political discourse has been deteriorating which is evidence from language an imagery used by politicians against each other. The language used by CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal while blaming PM Modi and other politicians , BJP MP recently about Sh. Sachin Pilot are at the lowest level or political discourse. The trolls on social media have become common these days.
It impacts the society:
– No discussion on real issues like poverty, food etc.
– Degrades the moral values in society
– Reduces their time to work for administration and work on important issuesThere have been recourse to Defamation cases by some politicians against these incidents. However, most of them have not helped to improve the situation. Judiciary has failed to curb this as:
– There are high number of pending cases and it takes time to solve these cases
– No single concrete law on curbing such discourse
– While various sections of IPC like 294, 351 can be invoked, politicians generally escape the system due to their power and connectionsTaking the impact in consideration, it is important to take steps to improve situation:
1. RPA Act should be amended to include this kind of discourse as an offence
2. Strengthen judiciary by filling vacancies and increasing posts
3. ECI should be strengthened to take immediate action -
22 Sept 2016 | GS 3 | What is the idea behind adopting Islamic Banking in India? Do you think that Islamic Banking will Strengthen Democracy in India. Critically examine.
GS III ( Economics) (Hattrick)
What is the idea behind adopting Islamic Banking in India? Do you think that Islamic Banking will Strengthen Democracy in India. Critically examine.
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22 Sept 2016 | GS 4 | Every time we force our choices on another individual, every time we make ourselves believe that our point of view is superior to that of another; we are feeding this demon that lies in the darkest corners of our heart, nutrition which might, one fated day, enable it to find expression through our actions. Comment.
GS IV (Attitude) (Simplex) (Analytical)
Every time we force our choices on another individual, every time we make ourselves believe that our point of view is superior to that of another; we are feeding this demon that lies in the darkest corners of our heart, nutrition which might, one fated day, enable it to find expression through our actions. Comment.
Demand-Open question. Demand is to get away from this attitude and behaviour.
Approach-
– Take examples of day to day lives and impact of this demon on the society, individual, surroundings, etc.
– Corrective steps on these, listening to opinion of others (Dalai lama quote) etc.
Best answer
Mission IAS wrote the best answer for this question and got a score of 5/10. The answer is being reproduced below for everyone’s convenience. Of course these answers can always be improved. (Best answer of a particular only involves those given on that day, later answers may not have been checked)
“When someone’s imposing something upon you, they’re trying to remove your choice (and overstepping your boundaries).”
We live in a society where we often find people imposing their thoughts, beliefs, ideas, habits etc over other considering themselves as superior one. In particular Indian society is best in giving free advice to anyone, in any field irrespective to their knowledge base and past experience. Some common example of such experiences are debates over religions, which one is better Hindu/Muslim, Vegetarian life vs Non-vegeterians, North Indians vs South Indians, choices of career options, social and political issues (people’s different opinion in response to recent Uri incidents) etc.Why it is wrong?
Just because we see something a particular way does not make it so. We can be so insistent sometimes that our way of seeing something is more right than someone else’s way. In this way we often get far away from the right direction. Every coin has two sides so does the perception. When we see from our point of view, often we can see only one side of the coin remaining the other side untouched and this hamper the outcome of our decisions. For eg. You give advice someone to pursue Engineering career which is most common and valuable advice in India, but the next person is interested in art and culture domain. Now if you are engineer then from your perspective your advice ia superior and best but for that individual it’s not. Maybe after getting in college that fellow drop out or may not perform upto expectation.How to overcome this?
Keep an open mind at all times and remember that a point of view is always valuable to each individual. Before considering your opinion superior try to discuss with other people and find out how many contradict with that. And with contradictory persons discuss more and find out the point where you might be thinking wrong. All the decisions can not be based on majority, sometimes the minority decisions are such a realistic and practical that they have ability to change the entire scenario.