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  • Sprint this month and Clear Prelims

    In an article one month back I wrote how to approach prelims 2016 where I underlined the importance of solving test papers, previous years questions and making educated informed calculated guesses. We followed that up with test series by UW and analysis of last 6 years polity and economy papers.

    By now, it would be amply clear to all of you that solving the test papers, making intelligent guesses is utmost important to crack prelims examination. You have only one month left now and you have to do what all I prescribed (yes I am a doctor) in the earlier article.

    Most imp. period of your preparation – winners will march ahead

    Many of you would already be feeling defeated and dejected. Negative thoughts – I won’t be able to clear the prelims- come to mind very frequently these days. But remember that this is not the time to feel dejected. This is the most important period of your preparation. In next one month, ranks will shift dramatically. Those who would succumb to pressure will be left behind while those who utilize this time in best possible manner will March ahead.

    Sprint now and win the Prelims marathon

    It’s sprint from now on. Marathon race of prelims has reached the last lane. Now you have to run and run very fast. Every minute is important from now on. Times of parties have long gone now. You can’t afford to waste a minute any more. Your success and failure would depend on the wise utilization of the time you have. You have to have faith in yourself that you can do it. And you will have to do it.

    Discipline is the key

    Make a timetable now. Get organized. Get focused. If you had joined any whatsapp group for current affairs or doubt clearance, this is the best time to leave those groups.

    Get maximum out of everyday – Don’t have any distractions

    To get maximum out of everyday, become very disciplined and follow your time table religiously. Bore yourself to success by following that time table for next 30 days. Do four siting of two and half hours each. And these sittings means reading from the books and notes while your phone is switched off. There should not be any distraction just like in exam. You have to focus for 2 hours in exam, here we take s buffer if half an hour. And just like that, you would clock 10 hours a day every day.

    Revise current affairs backwards

    Start revising your current affairs from June month backwards. Revise your old test papers with special focus on questions you marked incorrect. Double mark those which you mark incorrect once again or just write them down in your notebook. Go back to your standard books and revise that topic again.

    Solve past ten years question papers in next 10 days

    If you haven’t solved last 10 years question papers, solve them in next 10 days. There is simply no excuse if you are unable to answer direct repeat or indirect repeat from the same topic.

    Don’t leave any topic untouched – must correct every easy question from every topic

    If you haven’t touched any particular topic or subject, cover them in next 7 days. You just can’t leave any subject / topic, be it art and culture or temple architecture or ancient history. You don’t have to go in depth. You don’t have to time to study in depth now. Just have superficial knowledge and make sure you mark easy questions from those topics correctly. For instance, you just can’t afford to not mark this question on definition of ecosystem correctly and you would mark that correctly if you had just skimmed through environment and ecology topics. This hold true for every subject.

    Revise, revise and revise

    Once you have done that, your complete focus should be on revision. Read new things for not more than 2 hours a day. Just try to consolidate everything you have already studied. Trust me all of you have read enough. Just revise and consolidate that.

    Simulate exam every day

    Don’t forget to solve at least 25 questions (solving one full length paper everyday won’t harm either) everyday in exam like conditions. Keep solving them till last week of prelims. Make calculated guesses there. See if they benefit you. Analyse your mistakes, improve upon them and you will be the winner.

    The Final Mocks start on the 11th July. Click here to join

  • Geography Mapping.

    Any possible locations for mapping? Last time middle east was asked, maybe this time for africa? due to India Africa Summit.

  • National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme

    • Outlay: Rs. 10,000 crore
    • Target: 50 lakh apprentices to be trained by 2019-20
    • Implementing Agency: Director General of Training (DGT) under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)

    Incentivising employers:

    • It incentivises employers to engage apprentices
    • 25% of the total stipend payable to an apprentice would be shared with employers directly by Government of India
    • It is for the first time a scheme has been designed to offer financial incentives to employers to engage apprentices

    Basic training:

    • It also supports basic training which is an essential component of apprenticeship training
    • 50% of the total expenditure incurred on providing basic training would be supported by Government of India

    Benefits:

    • Will catalyze the entire apprenticeship ecosystem in the country and will offer a win-win situation for all stakeholders
    • It is expected to become one of the most powerful skill-delivery vehicle in the country

    Why Apprentices Training?

    • Apprenticeship Training is considered to be one of the most efficient ways to develop skilled manpower for the country
    • It provides for an industry led, practice oriented, effective and efficient mode of formal training
    • The National Policy of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 launched by the Prime Minister focuses on apprenticeship as one of the key components for creating skilled manpower in India.
    • The present scheme also aims to achieve the objective as stated in the National Policy, 2015
    • The policy proposes to work pro-actively with the industry including MSME to facilitate tenfold increase opportunities in the country by 2020-20

  • Some Days, You Just Have Nothing – Part 2

    It was heartening to see that a few of you could connect with my day’s ramblings. Sometime such connections are nice to find and great to cherish.

    Also – the other reader who shared her drawing was simply amazing. Baskin Robbins anyday 🙂 I loved the story that she had crafted on that page.

    We all tell stories. Stories are an amazing way to create a sense of reality for ourselves so that we aspire towards a goal.

    I felt so pumped to start reading a subject in the morning and marked 5 chapters which I will cover before noon. I told a positive story to myself, “I am going to cover the executive polity today and will look up for polity tit bits by Dr. V and that would make me a supremo in this section.” but but as luck would have it, I drifted off midway and switched off to history.

    My story changed to, “This subject is so boring and I need to be a bit more diverse in my choices to keep things lively.”

    And this flip flop kept happening which made me re-think this whole boring issue in detail.

    The truth is studies do get boring. There is no glamour in rattofying Lakshmikanth line by line and switching from one subject to another is just escaping from reality. We think we are going to ace the book today and we see ourselves closing the cover page halfway through a chapter.

    The gap between our realities and expectations remind me of this 😉

    But back to serious stuff – how do I undo the boring aspect of studies? How do I brainwash myself into staying put with a boring subject? Anyone with any good, practical advices?

  • Delhi Full Statehood Issue

    source

    Should Delhi be given statehood?

    • Why in news?
    • Background
    • What is the present status of Delhi?
    • Arguments favoring statehood in Delhi
    • Why not to give statehood?
    • The way ahead

    Why in news?

    Recently Supreme Court has sought more clarity on the scope and boundaries of the relationship between the Delhi government and the Centre as at times, both the Centre and Delhi government contest each other’s right to administer and govern the National Capital and demands have been raised to give statehood to Delhi.

    Background

    The elected governments have time and again felt crippled in decision-making as the assembly does not have powers like other state assemblies. All political parties that have been in power in Delhi have lamented this and raised the demand for full statehood for the national capital.

    What is the present status of Delhi?

    • Presently, Delhi enjoys the character of a special Union Territory that has some unique institutions like an elected Legislative Assembly and a High Court.
    • In 1991, the Parliament, through the 69th amendment, introduced Article 239AA (Special Provisions with respect to Delhi) and conferred the right upon the people of the NCT of Delhi to elect their own legislature and government to make laws under certain entries of the state list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and execute these laws respectively.
    • This amendment, however, did not confer full statehood upon Delhi and powers with respect to public order, land and police remained with the Union government.

    Argument favoring statehood to Delhi

    • Two power centres create confusion

    In the current system, power is divided between the chief minister and the Central government through the LG. This dual control creates an inherent tension between the two power centres.

    • Union government exercises immense authority

    Though Delhi Assembly is given the powers to govern and make laws on all but three subjects – public order, police and land but the Union government has been violating this constitutional provision and has been exercising authority on several subjects.

    • Law & order should be the state government’s responsibility

    Delhi Police reports to the Union Home ministry and this ties their hands in ensuring maintenance of law and order in the capital. To avoid the tussle, the Centre can create and deploy a central police force for guarding its buildings and for diplomatic duties. For law and order duties, Delhi’s elected government must be in full command.

    • Delhi’s land cannot be under Centre’s control

    The Delhi government cannot decide on its own the use that the city’s land should be put to. This leads to conflict at times.

    • Delhi does not have its own officers

    Each state of India has its own Public Service Commission that recruits bureaucrats to run the state government’s administrative machinery. Delhi, being a Union territory, does not have a cadre of officers of its own and is part of a common cadre shared with other UTs.

    • It is argued that if Delhi had its own cadre, like all states have, the impasse between the offices of the CM and the LG would not have arisen.
    • National capitals all over the world have sufficient powers
    • Experts say even if some national capitals like Washington DC, London and Paris are not states, all of them have a governance structure that gives the local government legislative, financial and administrative powers. Delhi has none of these.
    • As Delhi expands, clarity over jurisdiction of the local government will become increasingly imperative.
    • Some experts have argued that the assembly should be dissolved and the Centre be given full charge of the national capital. However, the abolition of an assembly once created will mean taking away the democratic rights of the people.

    Why not to give the statehood?

    • Delhi is different than other UTs because as the nation’s capital, it must reflect the best that the country offers. And that is only possible if land-use, zoning plans and building regulations are managed in consonance with the standards expected of a capital city. Parallels cannot be drawn with state capitals like Mumbai, Bangalore or Chennai (although that is constantly being done).
    • Statehood would bring land allocation under the city government, whose concern for the country’s capital would yield to satiating local demands.
    • In the national capital, the protection of dignitaries and the maintenance of public order are the highest priorities. The upkeep of maximum standards of security is how the safety of the capital is judged. An attack on a Union minister or diplomat would guarantee an ‘unsafe’ tag not just for Delhi but the country. So, police cannot be kept solely in the hands of state government.
    • An important point against the grant of statehood to the Delhi is the inability of its city government to bear the cost of police salaries and the pension liabilities of all city government employees, which are today borne entirely by the Centre.
    • It would weaken the case for delegation of authority under various statutes which is feasible and a necessity.

    What’s the way ahead

    • Full statehood will definitely bring better opportunities for the residents of Delhi and financial increments for the government’s budget but not without its own share of responsibilities like provision of top security infrastructure for law & order and internal security
    • From the point of view of the citizens of Delhi, what matters is that systems are transparent and day-to-day work is attended to. This does not need statehood—only good governance

    References:

  • CivilsDigest Ed#7 released – Test Students get a FREE Copy

    Hello,

    It is usually recommended that you be well versed with the current affairs of upto an year back of your Prelims attempt.

    For those appearing for the IAS 2016 Prelims, we advise that you go through with current affairs from August 2015 – July 2016.

    If you have made your current affairs notes, revisit those bullet points. If you haven’t been regular with current affairs, get the back issues of Civilsdigest magazine from our Instamojo store – Click here. 

    We released the CivilsDigest Ed#7 today

    It covers news from May 20 – June19

    If you have joined our Full Length test series which starts on 11th July, you would have received a FREE download link to this latest issue. Please check your email.

    Link to join the test series. The students who join the Full Length TS in the coming days will get their complimentary magazine within 24 hours.

     

     

  • Treat yourself at Baskin Robbins

    Read someone’s diary entry in your blog. And i turned around pages of my diary what i have for july this time. I want to share it with you I have nothing inspiring say but this exam is best thing that ever happened to me for i fell in love with it. This is not everything to me but it’s something which makes me look past the extraneous detail and perceive clearly.

    It changed the way i look at things. I don’t claim anything big why and what i am doing here I am doing it for myself; i am happy about it it’s not mean thing to say.

    This time or the other time even if  it will be like climbing mountain or sailing over sea I will be accomplishing this thing.

    I am in love with its syllabus and will be loving it always.

    PS may irks many but this was not intended to offend any.

    Diary entry of an IAS aspirant

    This post was an email from a reader. Has been kept anonymous for her comfort but we hope this brings some peace to all of you who have had some bad days. If you wish to write to us about your good/ bad days – email us at hello[at]civilsdaily.com

  • Some Days, You Just Have Nothing

    Yesterday wasn’t a great day for me.

    I woke up late after a lot of sleep. Wanted to cover something last night but slept over the open book of Indian Polity, which put me in a down mood. I couldn’t get focused to do any reading in the morning and so attempted the mock 8 only to realise that I need to be more and more active in my revision.

    My scores were lower than what my kind nephew would have got on an entirely random selection of answer choices.

    I then downloaded all the explanations and took a print out for highlighting the tricky portions but did not revise in full again. Sometimes I feel that the gap between my reality and expectations increases at exponential rate. But I am sure that’s the case with most of us. Preparation for 2 years takes a toll and sometime you wonder why this road when I could have pursued my passion in another way. I think I want to teach school kids. But my parents are worried that I should get a boy and be settled soon and then follow my career choices.

    The irony of expectations.

    I did a workout, but couldn’t finish it because my legs hurt. I rode my activa to the reliance fresh and got chocolates, loads of chocolates. I looked up the ranking chart of the mocks and i wondered how the hell can someone get 45+ in these mocks! It’s insane!

    Then I attempted the mock #9 and that went well. Have been following hindu for past 1 year and have followed Dr. V’s blogs on economic survey – hats off to him for finding his sense of purpose in teaching us all!

    Then something inspired me. Was thinking about how he could stay put with the prep for 3 times in a row knowing that some random mark here and there could messup with his attempt and rewind his clock to 0. And if he can do that, so can I.

    Logged back on the laptop and registered for the final mocks. Promised to myself that I will give the final 4 tests with sincerity. Should get back on revision mode. Want to send this diary entry to CD to see if it could help other students feel fine for not scoring a lot! We all have our bad days. Am sure Dr. V had his too.

    Some days, you don’t have anything. But all the other days, you need to run, run and run!

    This post was an email from a reader. Has been kept anonymous for her comfort but we hope this brings some peace to all of you who have had some bad days. If you wish to write to us about your good/ bad days – email us at hello[at]civilsdaily.com

  • Fall 7 times, stand up 8 – Japanese Proverb

    Not everyone has a flawless academic record and experiencing setbacks is okay. Sometimes we get so haunted by one failure, which usually happens to be trivial, that we get too terrified to even try again. But as this proverb suggests, even if you fail seven times, you stand up on the eighth.

    We received a few mails from the test takers saying that the quality of questions at CD is much ahead of those at Vision, Insights, Drishti (hindi) but that sometimes make the test takers feel a bit demotivated of their test taking abilities.

    This post is intended for all those test takers – don’t worry about your wrong attempt in the mocks. Don’t go so hard on yourself. Your actual marks are going to be +10 from what you get here. Make sure you attempt the tests to the fullest abilities and then red the explanations thoroughly. 

    This is the time to get out of Maslow’s basement

    This is Abraham Maslow’s finest creation.

    In his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”, Maslow arranged the motivation factors of our needs and deeds in an order of priority. A psychology student would need no initiation in this but for the rest of us, think of it as the bollywood equivalent of “roti kapda aur makaan”.

    Only after one has his basic needs fulfilled will he think of achieving something for the others or look for nirvana for himself.

    But why on earth are we talking about Maslow?

    Because we want you to get out of the Maslow’s basement, go out and conquer the 5th step of the process. Think of how this translates for an average UPSC candidate –

    Step 1, 2 are the basic preparation steps where you lay out the ground work – read up on NCERTs, get the regular books, make notes etc.

    Step 3 is the social need when you discuss concepts with your peers, exchange views and tips and answer each other queries. You feel like a part of the family at CD when you help each other out and you slowly prepare your grounds for the Step 4

    Step 4 is the testing time folks. Here’s where all that you have been through comes out to give you quick, timely feedback so that you prepare yourself for the FINAL NIRVANA on the Step 5 which is the UPSC day!

    Do not MISS out on this step. Do not go back to the basement levels 1 & 2. This is the time to rise up to the occasion and learn from your mistakes. Don’t fall prey to a false ego hurt which you may receive when you hit a bad score. GET UP and GET GOING!

    Mock #9 is LIVE and it will be closely followed by Mock #10. Both are based on current affairs.

    The Full Length tests are starting on 11th July. These will be close group tests and will be accessible only to the students who register for them. If you haven’t already – REGISTER TODAY.

    Look forward to more participation and more sincere attempts from you all!

  • [Solved] Open discussion for Prelims Mocks #9

    Update:

    The solutions for this mock are now available in a downloadable pdf. Download

    What’s this?

    Discussion blog page for those who just attempted prelims mock #9. Discussion is open for any question which you had a doubt about, brainstorming on ways to arrive at a particular answer, any other interesting tit bit that you may share etc.

    Where are the prelims mocks held?

    Go to the link and start attempting the mocks. Click here. 25 questions each.

    When will the detailed explanations be uploaded?

    Every weekend (on sunday). Look out for this blog again and you will find a google drive link from where you can download the explanation pdfs.

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