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This blog is a part of the series – Know Your Services @Intro to Civil Services
As a career diplomat, the Foreign Service Officer is required to project India’s interests, both at home and abroad on a wide variety of issues. These include bilateral political and economic cooperation, trade and investment promotion, cultural interaction, press and media liaison as well as a whole host of multilateral issues.
The functions of an Indian diplomat may be summarized as:
Published with inputs from Swapnil
This blog is a part of the series – Know Your Services @Intro to Civil Services
The training is split into two phases:
The training involves modules where Officer Trainees are attached to the Reserve Bank of India, the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
The Officer Trainees are also given an international exposure through attachment with London School of Economics and Political Science.
The service can be divided into officers looking after State accounts and the officers at Headquarters:
IA&AS officers mainly go abroad to conduct embassy audit i.e. audit of Embassies and High Commissions of India situated all over the world. They are also deputed regularly to conduct audit of international institutions like UN. Some of the officers are doing long term foreign assignments in United Nations, UNOPS, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, UNRWA, etc.
IAAS, over its long history, has evolved as a premier central service, owing to several positives that the service offers. IAAS works under CAG of India, a constitutional body, which makes it aloof from any undue political interference.
The service is good for people with professional bend of mind, as it’s a knowledge oriented department. Auditing some entity requires a thorough understanding of that entity. So one needs to constantly update oneself. Hence, the IAAS Officers are valued in the bureaucracy for their multi-faceted experience and expertise in the area of Audit, Accounts and finance.
Not surprisingly, several of them have stints in key positions in the union ministries of Government of India.
The service is known for most timely promotions amongst all the civil services. It is said that the entire government setup is similar to huge elephant. Owing to its mammoth size, people working under it, get to feel only a part of it. IAAS is one such service which offers to understand this elephant in entirety, as it works in close contact with all the departments of government, be it for accounting function or auditing.
As years pass by, bureaucrats often complaint about monotone of their job. IAAS offers varied opportunities for its officers, to work in several domains such as Accounts, Entitlements and Audit. Within audit itself, the number of sectors covered, makes work refreshing and challenging.
In a recently conducted survey by the Government of India, amongst 3 All India Services and 7 Central Services, IAAS emerged as the service with highest percentage of job satisfaction amongst its officers. It is known to be an employee friendly service. IAAS also allows an optimal work life balance, as also evident from the mentioned survey.
Indian Audit & Accounts Service, thus, offers very challenging and satisfying career avenues to the bureaucrats of this country.
Published with inputs from Swapnil
This blog is a part of the series – Know Your Services @Intro to Civil Services
At present there are two modes of recruitment to IIS Group ‘A’ service-
This was all about very formal aspects. Let’s see what it actually is on ground.
It’s a good job full of challenges and growth. The income might not be the best when compared to what similar skillsets will make in corporate world. But you get to serve the nation with your skills at hand and if you fair really well at it, then your chances of making it big is fair enough as you will be indulging in dialogue and action with other top level bureaucrats and diplomats of India. The best part- you will make your thoughts count in the programmes and policies of Government of India as you will be doing lots of advising for the government on its information policy right from the start.
You get to work with Doordarshan and All India Radio, State’s wide community radios and many other Government owned and run print and media channels. IIS is more like a Corporation in whole via which its officers serve in myriad of organizations during the course of their career, wherein they try to spotlight the issues affecting the weaker and marginalized sections of the society, particularly in rural areas.
IIS officers will also be harnessing the technological innovations in communication and media and always keep themselves updated. Since discovery of internet, use of mobile phones for various activities, social and digital media has completely transformed the old tools of communication, Your day to day work with the government will be very fast paced and will have a very good learning curve as an Grade-A Officer and also a top notch citizen who gives a damn about people of India.
The work is interesting as it uses the flare for journalism, public relations and administration all together. So it all a well mixed career path with various inlets and sources to govern, organize and activities to do and finish within the single large framework of Information and Broadcasting in India. The promotional channel is more or less the same as that of other Services in Civils. Attached with it will come many government perks and allowances which will pay off in longer run to support your financial status and growth as an employee. You get a reasonably good pension too after you retire, Wink Wink!
Published with inputs from Swapnil
Issue arose as US industry groups recently claimed the Indian government offered them a “private” assurance that compulsory licences will not be issued, save in emergencies and for non-commercial purposes.
Issues -1. Should govt be assuring them privately <policies should be made transparently>
2. When should govt use the flexibility of compulsory licensing (CL) under TRIPS-
Some basics – Compulsory licencing is a safeguard under TRIPS provision of WTO based on national circumstances <not just under public health emergencies or urgency>
Under Indian patents act, to grant CL three conditions need to be satisfied
Under CL, govt allows domestic generic producers to manufacture drug without the consent of Patent holder who agrees to market the drug at substantially lower rate. pay some royalty to patent holder.
So far, India has issueed only one compulsory license for a kidney cancer drug where in sharp contrast to Bayer’s (innovator) Rs 2.8 lakh per month price tag, Natco offered to sell its version of the drug at Rs 8,800 per month.
Under CL, govt allows domestic generic producers to manufacture drug without the consent of Patent holder who agrees to market the drug at substantially lower rate. pay some royalty to patent holder.
So far, India has issueed only one compulsory license for a kidney cancer drug where in sharp contrast to Bayer’s (innovator) Rs 2.8 lakh per month price tag, Natco offered to sell its version of the drug at Rs 8,800 per month.
Consider these per month treatment costs
Needless to say, India should fully utilize flexibility available under TRIPS to make drugs affordable while also respecting interests of innovators. Full article here. <What are the other public health safeguards under TRIPS? Answer in the comments>
In India National Pharmaceutical Pricing authority (NPPA) brought 348 drugs into India’s National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013. But there were significant loopholes based on which Supreme court termed whole policy irrational and unreasonable.
Price controls remain an effective answer to ensuring affordability. Even free markets in the West utilise price, volume and cost-effective controls to mitigate health-care inflation. Canada has its Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, while Egypt has brought all medicines under price control. Lebanon has utilised regressive margin pricing and improved transparency by publishing patient prices on its online Lebanon National Drug Index.
As Suu Kyi can not be president <barred constitutionally as her son and husband hold british passport>, her aide U Htin Kyaw became the president. To know ,What potential it holds to transform India- Myanmar relations, read this explianer. The hindu editorial here
Govt admitted in parliament that definition of sedition is too wide and requires reconsideration. Govt should now be bold in revisiting the sedition law.
Vague and ‘over-broad’ definitions of offences often result in mindless prosecutions based merely on the wording of the act that seems to allow both provocative and innocuous speeches to be treated as equally criminal. One way to limit its mischief is to narrow the definition; but a more rational and constitutional option would be to scrap the provision altogether.
Read everything you need to know including supreme court judgement, law commision recommendatins about sedition in this awesome explainer.
Keep a note of SAARC and India Pakistan relations as SAARC summit will be in nov in Islamabad just before mains and will be a hot topic <just when aspirants stop reading newspaper but UPSC knows that event is before mains and can set the question>
Having successfully run the daily show (daily newscards) for over a year, we now begin last week tonight (roundup of the week gone by). In this initiative every Saturday or Sunday night, we shall discuss, major events of the last week.
We already cover daily news in crisp bullet points without any opinion- left, right or centre- to let you have your own opinion on various issues. In this initiative, we shall discuss most imp. op-eds of the week. Only outlines and issues within major events will be discussed here. Links of CD news stories, external oped links, RSTV videos will be attached to give you holistic picture.
So let’s discuss major events of week gone by.
Manner of passing of the bill – Money bill or not
Some basics- Article 110 deals with money bill. Essentially any bill that contains provisions related to only 6 provisions: taxes, money going into or out of Consolidated Fund of India or Contingency fund of India, Receipt into Public account of India (I haven’t listed all 6 in detail for brevity, you can get the sense from the summary) and finally 7th provision is any matter incidental to the above issues.
If bill deals with these issues plus any other issues, it will not be termed as money bill (read the word only in the definition of money bill) but financial bill under article 117.
Govt’s argument- Bill mainly deals with transfer of money (subsidies) out of CFI and other matters are incidental to it (7th provision), hence money bill. While opposition claims main purpose is giving statutory baking to Aadhar, withdrawal of money is incidental to it, hence not a money bill.
Read this Indian express oped to know why this is not a money bill .
Why govt introduced it as money bill– NDA does not have majority in RS and in money bills RS can only suggest recommendations within 14 days. Loksabha can reject them as they did in this bill. Also money bill can be introduced only in LS on recommendation of president. Speaker certifies it as money bill and speaker’s certification can not be challenged.
Read this link to understand why govt rejected all 5 amendments suggested by LS.
But wait, is the decision of speaker final? Well, constitution says so but in India supreme court can do anything. Even under 10th schedule, anti defection law, speaker’s decision was final but supreme court held it justiciable (What was the logic given by supreme court? Answer in comments>
Similarly supreme court changed the term procedure established by law to due process of law for all practical purposes, word consultation in judicial appointment to concurrence. How did supreme court do that? Read the whole story here
2nd issue is that of privacy – risk of mass surveillance plus govt’s stand in the court that Privacy is not a fundamental right. Basically as Aadhar will b linked to almost every service we avail, govt will have the vast data to profile the citizens, snoop on them. Also national security clause gives sweeping powers to govt. Read these opeds to know how it has potential to violate privacy.
Attorney general in Supreme Court on right to privacy
8 judge bench of supreme court in M P Sharma And Others vs Satish Chandra, District Magistrate Delhi (1954), and 6 judge bench in Kharag Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh (1962), held that the right to privacy was not a fundamental right. It has not been overruled in any subsequent judgment by a larger Bench, hence not a fundamental right.
3rd issue is whether Biometric will be effective in India <fingerprinting might not work in manual labour> and issue of making Aadhar mandatory while earlier it was sold as a voluntary number.
Read these 9 issues related to Aadhar bill
Whether or not, you read those external links, please follow these CD stories
Summary– In late 2014, ministry of health proposed that 85% of a cigarette packet’s surface area on both the sides should carry health warnings, up from 40% on one side of the packet.
But now parliamentary committee recommended that
Logic– Cylindrical packing of Bidi, no concept of 2 sides but what abut horizontal packing of tobacco containing paan Masala. But wait why ain’t tobaco containing paan masala banned in every state? They are food product and thus banned under safety guidelines, Read more here
Anyway the argument for not increasing pictorial warning is
Health costs of tobacco-
I don’t need to say, what should be done with the recommendations. Full oped here
Catch up on the earlier articles:
Political Interference:
It is minimal because the absolute power is in the hand of IRS officers and there is no ground on which politicians can threaten them. Also, generally, they have no direct contact with politicians.
However, with changing times, more and more IRS officers are serving in departments and areas that used to exclusively be the forte of IAS officers. This widening of opportunities and exposure has made the IRS more attractive
Diversification of Career:
And of course you can always become a chief minister!
Family life: Best balance of family life and work is in IRS.
Uniform:
Ranks & Equivalent Salary Structure:
The equivalent ranks from IPS or IAS are given in table. You can check respective pay from earlier articles.
Published with inputs from Swapnil
Buy your copy from this link – https://www.instamojo.com/civilsdaily/civilsdigest-ed-3-apr-2016/
The offline release is slated to happen next week via Unique Publishers. We will let you know when that happens.
Catch up on the earlier article: Know Your Services | The Indian Administrative Service
Remember Archana Ramasundaram?<first woman to head a central armed police force> Read more about her here.
However, with changing times, more and more IPS officers are serving in departments and areas that used to exclusively be the forte of IAS officers, just as the IAS officers now at times head departments like vigilance which were exclusively given to IPS officers. This widening of opportunities and exposure has made the IPS even more attractive.
Some of the special physical requirements for IPS are listed below:
The motto of the IPS academy is Satya Seva Surakshnam, Sanskrit for ‘Mean Truth, Service Security’.
A special training in driving and mechanism of motor vehicles, and underwater survival are given to trainee oofficers
Always fascinated about 3 stars on shoulder? See here what you get at different ranks
Published with inputs from Swapnil
IAS is the premier administrative civil service of the Government of India. IAS officers hold key and strategic positions in the Union Government, States and public-sector undertakings.
Unlike Candidates selected to other civil services, a person once appointed to Indian Administrative Service or Indian Foreign Service (IFS) becomes ineligible to reappear in Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC.
Why so? Because there are no higher civil services other than these two services under Government of India.
Along with the Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service, the IAS is one of the three All India Services.
All India Service, what does it mean? Its cadre can be employed by both the Union Government and the individual States.
And obviously, we know all the famous people like Vinod Rai, T. N. Sheshan, Nripendra Mishra etc.
Along with the selected Civil Service officers, the trainee IAS officers have to undergo 15 weeks training in picturesque hill resort of Mussoorie. You are taken for Bharat Darshan.
Here after they are shifted to the two stages of training before serving the actual service.
In stage I of the training, the officers learn to expand the perfect proficient qualities in managing the huge arrays of tasks which has to be taken up for the first 10 years of service that is for 26 weeks.
Then there is district training for administrative responsibilities of regional sorts, including location study of assignment for the academy.
The duration is of 52 weeks where the officers experiences about the actual execution of the regional administration. The district training aims for the allotment of Cadres for the actual appointment.
In stage II of the training, the officers have to execute the district level tasks experiences acquired in a course of one year onsite training along with the skilled program learned in foundation training.
On successful completion of probation for almost two years, the IAS officers are placed as SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate also known as District Magistrate or Sub-Collector). There they get to do all sort of awesome stuff. Have you read the story of miracle man Armstrong Pame who built the road without govt help, no? Read here
On this position the IAS officers lead the department with key responsibilities of Revenue, General Administration, Developmental Work, Law and Order as per their work assignment.
Here comes the most important part
Don’t get fooled by these numbers. You all must have seen the collector’s bungalow of your district. Try calculating it’s market value and you would get the idea of perks they get.
Published with inputs from Swapnil
A simple act by a young IAS officer in Bihar’s Gopalganj district has set an example of how a big social change is possible even in the remotest part of rural India.
Last week, the district administration in Gopalganj was shocked to discover that a group of local residents in Kalyanpur area had banned a widow from cooking mid-day meal in the village’s middle school.
This, according to some villagers, was because of their perceived superstition that allowing a widow to cook meal for children would be a bad omen.
The Gopalganj District Magistrate, Rahul Kumar, ordered the villagers to immediately stop this practice and allow the widow to resume cooking the mid-day meal.
Kumar tweeted, “Some misled villagers opposed a widow cook and threatened to withdraw their Children from school after she was rightfully reinstated.”
The young bureaucrat then decided to visit the village and asked the widow in question to cook meal for himself. Kumar then tweeted the photo of him eating the meal cooked by the widow, who was being ostracised by a group of ‘misled’ people.
Kumar tweeted, “Sometimes u do symbolic things to overcome people’s beliefs. Asked the same widow cook to serve me the meal. (sic)”
Source: Jantakareporter
Reviewing the functioning of the lower level of administration, Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal on Sunday took to a clerk’s job and suggested method to reduce time for completing the work.
In his two-hour visit to the legal cell of the Secretariat, Aggarwal found that 375 cases of stamp refund were pending which would take about two years to dispose.
But, the DM, who was transferred to the state capital in December last, found a way out to cut short the time and suggested how the work could be done in a month, an official statement said.
During the visit, the DM came across an employee who appeared over-aged while one of her certificates, alleged to be forged, stated that she was 55 years old. Aggarwal has instructed officials to constitute a medical board to verify her age, the statement said.
Starting Sunday, the DM decided to visit different sections of district administration once a week to improve the work culture at lower level. He has also ordered Section, Block, District and Circle officers to do the same every Tuesday and review work, it said.
Aggarwal was recently awarded by the Election Commission of India for best electoral practices during his tenure as the DM of Gaya.
Source: HT
A few days ago, we launched a survey inviting our readers to pitch in with ideas which can help Civilsdaily improve its offerings to get you that coveted rank in the Civil Services Examination.
Among the many requests and suggestions, one which we have been hearing for quite sometime is this:
To solve for this particular problem, we have introduced a new concept called Collections. Collections are a group of posts which have similar theme. This is the most efficient way to discover relevant and related content for your IAS Prep in one place.
Over the last 2 days, we sat down and reviews all the long form write-ups written in last one year and put them into collection buckets. Now that we have segregated all the related posts, open them, read through, make notes and prepare well. Click on the headlines to go to the respective collections.
Long term strategies for clearing the mother of all examination – The Civil Services Exam.
Collection of blogs written by IAS rankers on their exam strategies and the ups and downs of preparation.
Previous years papers, exam patterns, answer keys and everything which can help you understand the IAS exam better.
Official UPSC Syllabus – Indian & World History, Indian & World Geography, Topics related to Indian Society, Issues and Resolutions
Official UPSC Syllabus – Indian Polity and Its Constitution, International Relations & World Institutions
Official UPSC Syllabus – Indian Economics, Environment & Biodiversity, Science & Tech, Disaster Management & Internal Security
All about Ethics
Everything that you wanted to know about the Civil Services of India in one single place – exam, schedule, services, comparisons, life and job etc.
Reflections and articles which help the aspirants stay on the path to conquer civil services. May contain anecdotes from in service officers or leaders from other walks of life.
Everything about bureaucrats In India – News, Work, Life and Fun
Everything related to discussions, chapter summaries, key takeaways and questions around the Indian Economic Survey. Most important annual document to study for IAS Prelims and Mains (GS papers).
Everything related to discussions, policy changes, key takeaways and questions around the Annual Budget. Most useful for statistics and policy comparison for IAS Prelims and Mains.
Hacks, Tips, Mnemonics, Last minute revision strategies from everyone and anyone to help you get past the IAS Pre-Mains-Interview hurdle.
The lighter side of your IAS preparation. Enjoy and share the posts!
Everything you need to know about how to pick an optional – recommended books, guide map, toppers’ strategy.
PIB is a nodal agency of the Government of India to facilitate private media. This collection contains all the most important releases drafted over time.
Detailed explanation of some of the important judgements in India to help you understand the modern day evolution of Indian constitution. Beneficial for developing a thorough understanding for IAS Mains & interview.
and finally…
Posts we think more aspirants should read. Recommended by Civilsdaily staff. For example, this post goes into the collection of CD recommends!
PS: Aspirants who requested for more frequent email updates, please check on your *promotion* tab at the gmail. Most of our emails go directly to that tab (courtesy google). Please drag and drop any one of those emails in your personal tabs so that you get all information directly in your main inbox.
First things first,
On average 16 questions are asked from economy portion and all the questions are very doable i.e. solid 32 marks you can easily get out of 105-100 needed to clear prelims i.e. solid 30% from economy alone! Unlike Environment and Biodiversity part of syllabus, there is no Greek or Latin here.
But very often when I talk to aspirants, I hear the usual refrain, I have no background in economics, my economy portion is weak, I don’t understand anything in economics and so I don’t read economics/ business section of newspaper and am not able to attempt many questions correctly in mock tests as well as actual exam.
We can hear you shouting, we all agree with you, that’s exactly the problem, now tell us the solution and if all books are shitty which one would you recommend. Please don’t tell us you are bringing a new book in the market.
We divide the conceptual part into following parts for convenience-
National income accounting; Budget and Fiscal policy,Banking and finance,RBI and monetary policy; Money Market and Stock Market; International Market, trade and balance of payment; Micro economy
Solution emerges from the problem my friends. Real crux of the problem is economic jargon and solution lies in dejargonising economics. We can hear you whispering, what an idiot, there are so many economic dictionaries in the market to do just that thing.
Friends problem with economic dictionary is the same as problem with normal English dictionary. You didn’t learn your vocabulary from dictionary, did you? We built our vocabulary as we kept reading. We can’t understand things without context and often the context is missing there.
But certainly NCERT won’t be sufficient for UPSC right. That’s why I said, read volume one of economic survey line to line and selective reading of volume two. Keep reading business/economy section of newspaper. Get your doubts cleared then and there.
Economics at the entry level (GS pre and mains) is the easiest subject. There’s not much to mug up and only two concepts, concept of demand and supply and that of opportunity cost. Every other principle, theorem can be derived from this concept. For instance, you think just because you don’t have to pay anything to read this article, it’s free. It has cost my friends, opportunity cost. You could be doing something else in the time if not reading the article. Why have I written this article? Simple, I feel there was demand for such an article. That’s it. These are the only concepts.
You don’t trust us, right. Don’t trust anyone. Always verify. So here is my verification. Click on separate hyperlinks
We have already pushed a few articles as back to basics. More will be available on your desk very soon. Every concept will be covered here but I would still recommend you read economic survey very carefully. More than half of your economics will be done.
We don’t recommend Dutt and Sundaram, kapadia, Mishra and Puri, Ramesh Singh are useless books. Don’t waste your time over reading those books. Wikipedia and Investopedia will give you more information in a much better way.
Economics for mains is a different story altogether but without basics, you won’t be able to do that either. We shall analyse economics for mains some other day.
If you are at a stage where you can appreciate Indian Economics discussions or annual budget discussions, do give these a read –
1. This 38-year-old officer is a Bengali from Darjeeling. Her fans and supporters say she is a “Hyderabadi at Heart”.
2. As her father Lt Col PK Das was a part of Indian defence force, she did her schooling in various parts of the country.
3. From Class 9 onward, she studied only in Hyderabad. She first studied in Army School, Secundarabad, but then completed her Class XII from St Ann’s, Marredpally, Hyderabad. She got the first rank in the all-India ICSE Class 12 exams.
4. In graduation, she studied commerce with accounts and economics as subjects. She did her BCom from St. Francis College.
5. Before her UPSC examination, she said she studied six hours a day apart from reading news paper and magazines.
6. She took public administration and anthropology for her mains examination in civil services.
7. She failed to clear her prelims in the first attempt, but in the next chance, he clinched the all-India 4th rank. “It’s incredible! …After the grilling interview session, I expected maybe the 50th rank, but definitely not the 4th rank” she told in an interview to a newspaper then.
8. In the UPSC interview, she was asked questions on foreign policy, China-US dispute, banking scenario in India and banks’ non-performing assets.
9. She is a trained athlete. She also learnt Hindustani classical music, and she sings.
10. Her inspiration: her mother Purabi Das. Her quote: “Everything becomes relevant once you put your heart into it.” (as quoted in an interview to Hyderabad Times after securing the 4th rank in civil services examinations)
A 2005 batch IAS officer.
He is the first IAS from Chattisgarh.
He was posted as collector Dantewada, Chattisgarh.
It is a Left Wing Extremism affected area.
In his stint as collector, he changed the face of Dantewada from an underdeveloped district into a progressive and vibrant one. His initiatives here were really path breaking and non-traditional. The key feature about these are the way he used the integration approach to arrange for funding, pooling being done from MGNREGS, BRGF, IAP, Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan, CSR and countless other schemes, whichever is appropriate. Against all odds, he proved that government schemes can function, despite the apparent perpetual crunch of funds.
#1. Solar Powered Education City:
As part of what he calls “the long-term solution”, he is supervising the construction of a 150-acre, solar-powered Education City. It aims to establish Dantewada as an education hub at the international level.
It will house 15 institutions, including an industrial training institute, a polytechnic college and various residential schools. The campus would cater to more than 5,000 students and is expected to be completely functional in a-year-and-a-half.
Recently, the consultancy firm KPMG listed it among the world’s top 100 innovative infrastructure projects for its potential to provide opportunities to the youth in developing their skills.
#2. Choolo Asman:
It comprises two coaching centres where the district’s brightest students are taught by teachers from the ‘Mecca’ of engineering and medical coaching, Kota, in Rajasthan.
Moreover, Chaudhary turned the barracks vacated by the Border Roads Organisation into a campus for girls, adding an additional floor by using bamboo-based sheets so as not to overburden the existing structure. Thus, the existing space was doubled at half the cost of constructing new buildings.
#3. Tamannah:
This has been implemented after observing that the children in this part of the world lack even the basic exposure.
Under the project, a science museum, district library, and a state of the art audio-visual theatre were set up with a view to broaden the horizons of all levels of students in the district.
Tamanna film festivals were conducted where students from far off villages visit every day in the buses deployed by the administration and meet with district level functionaries.
This helped to bridge the gap between citizens and administration.
#4. Nanhey Parindey:
To ensure the admission of deprived children in the quality schools like Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik Schools etc.
These schools are providing opportunity for holistic growth of a child without any fee. But unfortunately, due to their basic admission process suitable to population that is relatively aware and exposed, they invariably end up enrolling only those children who are more aware, exposed to the world rather than the worse off who languish in the wilderness.
To tackle this issue, project ‘NANHE PARINDE’ has been started, under which residential facilities were created at district headquarter and 105 children from interior villages belonging to marginalized background were provided special coaching for Navodaya and Sanik School entrance examination with 5th class regular schooling.
With only 10 months of mentoring, 30 children were selected in Navodaya Vidyalaya Barsoor out of a total of 60 selections. Sainik School in Ambikapur-Surguja -1 child selected from NanheParinde project, 24 children selected in Karpawand, Eklavya Vidyalaya, Bastar 25 girls selected in Eklavya Kanya Shiksha Parisar, Katekalyan and 5 girls selected for Parchanpal Kanya Parisar, Bastar.
#5. Education Clusters and Shiksha Savari Yojana:
Dantewada suffered from one of the highest dropout rate at the stage of pre-matric level.
This was because the high schools, which are lesser in numbers than the elementary schools, are located at places which are usually at some distance from their villages. Adding to this, poor transportation facilities and non-availability of residential facilities in high schools demotivate these children to go for higher studies.
Clusters of important junctions in the district were chosen and Educational Clusters were created by providing residential facilities to children from 9th to 12th standard. Such residential facilities called Pota Cabins not only helped in increasing and sustaining the enrollment ratio but also improved quality of education for children in such schools.
Additionally, the students getting enrolled in class 9th were provided bicycles under ‘Shiksha Savari Yojna’, a scheme initiated only in Dantewada District supported by IAP fund. As a result, dropout rate among school children decreased from 50% to 13% in just 2 years (2011-2013). This project is considered among top 100 most innovative projects throughout the world, by KPMG.
#6. Livelihood College (GujarBasar College):
This is a college for the unemployed youth, who have missed the formal education. It provides residential facility on PPP model.
Admissions are open to all regardless of educational qualification, any income or caste criteria.
Reputed organizations like IL&FS, IndiaCan, Tomorrow‘s Foundation, Cap Foundation, ISAP, ESAB, have been brought under the same umbrella to impart skill education to the youth. There is a provision for practical and class room training in more than 25 different trades and further linkages for placement with industries across India. Two types of trades have been focused upon : emerging market trends (hospitality, industrial stitching, sales, tally etc.) and to improve local skill deficit (plumber, electrician, mason, solar panel establishment and maintenance, mobile repairing etc.
For all his Herculean effort to achieve this miraculous feat, in which he literally risked his life many times, he got the well-deserved Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12.
Published with inputs from Swapnil
Tribal Affairs/ Tribal Issues are one of those important subjects which have a healthy mix of static + dynamic portions across IAS Prelims and Mains.
Prelims: History of India and Indian National Movement => includes all pre-independence movements, reasons etc
Mains:
IAS Prelims – Match the pairs of different tribal revolts, their leaders & reasons
IAS Mains – Reasons for revolts, reasons for failure of revolts etc
Examples –
So, focus here – Get the context and remember the facts
More in this series:
Sometime ago, we wrote a post – WHAT IS STRUGGLE?
We asked students to fill up the google form and tell us about their struggles. Some really good stories will be put in here so that they help in comforting every other reader (that they all sail in same boat).
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Confession #1
An upsc aspirant is the most soft target as far as civil services exam is concerned. There will be hundreds of people giving you advice on what to do in life and keep a check on your upsc results and give suggestion when you fail in it. A person who had never even filled the form will tell you how hard this exam is. I know one thing it doesn’t matter how you performed in your college exams ,we all know how u can get marks in those exam. But upsc is altogether a very different thing. I remember telling people how a person named Rukmani Riar AIR 2 in 2012 CSE was just on the line , she scored 199 in preliminary and that year cut off was 198 and then went on to become the second topper and also Ira Singhal AIR 1 in 2014 exam for that matter. Upsc is a mix of both luck and hard work. I believe that luck has a peculiar habit of helping those who doesn’t depend on it. You just need to keep walking. Whenever i feel its getting tough i just remember the lines from Robert Frosts well known piece “woods are lovely dark and deep but I have promises to keep A miles to go before i sleep”
KEEP WALKING
The aim of this post is to give you a bird’s eye view of what is usually asked in IAS Mains. Don’t fear the IR monster but be cautious about preparing it well.
We are going to pick up questions topic wise, from IAS Mains 2013 – 2015. Hope you remember the portions of IAS Mains (Paper 2) syllabus which deal with IR.
Mains 2015 –
Q. Project `Mausam’ is considered a unique foreign policy initiative of the Indian Government to improve relationship with its neighbors. Does the project have a strategic dimension? Discuss.
<China as Neighbour, considered special relevance to ques, China’s Maritime silk route and answer to string of pearls>
Q. Terrorist activities and mutual distrust have clouded India-Pakistan relations. To what extent the use of soft power like sports and cultural exchanges could help generate goodwill between the two countries? Discuss with suitable examples.
<Shiv Sena protests over Ghulam Ali’s concert>
Mains 2014 –
Q. With respect to the South China sea, maritime territorial disputes and rising tension affirm the need for safeguarding maritime security to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region. In this context, discuss the bilateral issues between India and China.
<Remember Chinese claims, 9 dashed line [Spratlys claim] – Tension in south china sea> < The most cliched issue in foreign policy>
Mains 2013 –
Q. The proposed withdrawal of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan in 2014 is fraught with major security implications for the countries of the region. Examine in light of the fact that India is faced with a plethora of challenges and needs to safeguard its own strategic interests.
<India’s large geostrategic and geoeconomic interests in Afghanistan>
Q. What do you understand by ‘The String of Pearls’? How does it impact India? Briefly outline the steps taken by India to counter this.
<Chinese dominant intentions in the Indian Ocean region><The most cliched issue>
Q. The protests in Shahbag Square in Dhaka in Bangladesh reveal a fundamental split in society between the nationalists and Islamic forces. What is its significance for India?
<Very much in news, similar to Arab spring>
Q. Discuss the political developments in Maldives in the last two years. Should they be of any cause of concern to India?
<Arrest of president Nasheed, cancellation of GMR deal, Indian diplomacy found wanting>
Q. In respect of India — Sri Lanka relations, discuss how domestic factors influence foreign policy.
<PM’s refusal to attend CHOGM summit in SL over DMK’s blackmail was the immediate context for the question>
Q. What is meant by Gujral doctrine? Does it have any relevance today? Discuss.
<I.K.Gujral died on nov. 30th 2012, expected question>
Mains 2015 –
Q. Increasing interest of India in Africa has its pros and cons. Critically examine.
<Largest gathering of African leaders in Oct, 2014 in New Delhi>
Q. The aim of Information Technology Agreements (ITAs) is to lower all taxes and tariffs on information technology products by signatories to zero. What impact should such agreements have on India’s interests?
<It was on the plurilateral agenda in the upcoming WTO talks to be held after mains exam, proves importance of cursory newspapers to follow evolution of topics even a day before mains or following newscards in 15 minutes daily>
What are newscards? Download our #1 trending android app for IAS prep!
Q. Some of the International funding agencies have special terms for economic participation stipulating a substantial component of the aid to be used for sourcing equipment from the leading countries. Discuss on merits of such terms and if, there exists a strong case not to accept such conditions in the Indian context.
<JICA funding DMIC require sourcing content from Japan>
Mains 2013 –
Q. Economic ties between India and Japan while growing in the recent years are still far below their potential. Elucidate the policy constraints which are inhibiting this growth.
Mains 2015 –
Q. Discuss the impediments India is facing in its pursuit of a permanent seat in UN Security Council.
<Very much in news due to starting of text based negotiations on security council reforms in september>
Mains 2014 –
Q. India has recently signed to become founding a New Development Bank (NDB) and also the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). How will the role of the two Banks be different? Discuss the significance of these two Banks for India.
<In the news, proliferation of multilateral development banks, role complementary, supplementary or competitive>
Q. WTO is an important international institution where decisions taken affect countries in profound manner. What is the mandate of WTO and how binding are their decisions? Critically analyse India’s stand on the latest round of talks on Food security.
<Static portion related to dispute settlement mechanism with dynamic part being WTO decision on Indian poultry import ban from US and India’s domestic content requirement for solar panels>
Mains 2013 –
Q. The World Bank and the IMF, collectively known as the Bretton Woods Institutions, are the two intergovernmental pillars supporting the structure of the world’s economic and financial order. Superficially, the World Bank and the IMF exhibit many common characteristics, yet their role, functions and mandate are distinctly different. Elucidate.
<Static, repeat question from previous year mains paper>
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
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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.
