Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.
You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.
Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.
Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.
If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis
If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.
We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.
*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Smash Prelims Program is back after a thumping success in Prelims 2021. Out of 25 students Santosh sir has mentored, 15 have cleared prelims this time.Our students were kind enough to take time out of their hectic Mains preparation and let us know how Santosh sir’s mentorship benefitted them in the exams. We wish them all the very best for the upcoming Mains exam from 7th January onwards!
Why Your Focus for Next 5 Months Must be About Scoring Above Cut-Off Marks in UPSC-CSE Prelims? Isn’t the last 1 Month Enough for This?
Every year, the competition for UPSC-CSE is increasing while vacancies are decreasing drastically. This year there are only 712 vacancies as against 2019 which had 927 vacancies. However, atleast 10 lakh students will attempt the prelims exam. This is why right now, it’s important to start having an Olympic Athlete mindset. You need to daily focus on scoring above the cut-off marks in your test series.
Civilsdaily Student and 2019 UPSC-CSE AIR 8 Topper Abhishek Saraf had practiced nearly 6000+ MCQs under us to clear prelims!
What makes prelims tough? It’s because the paper is unpredictable. If this year, science questions are a breeze then the next year you will have to answer advanced concept-based questions. Unlike Mains, Prelims has negative markings.
Toppers like Pranav Vijayvergiya (AIR 65) andSwati Sharma(AIR 17) have found Prelims to be tougher than Mains. In fact, Pranav failed to clear Prelims thrice. But, in his fourth attempt he took Civilsdaily mentorship and cleared Prelims, Mains and Interview in one shot!
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. It’s time to be like them now.
One has to be good at elimination methods to choose the right option amongst two similar ones. Our Smash Prelims Program started as a pilot project last year with an aim to introduce step-wise improvement in our chosen 25 aspirants. Over a period of 2 months, Santhosh sir inculcated confidence in aspirants who were either newbies or gave too many attempts. This year, we achieved a remarkable 60% success ratio. Next year, we have set our eyes on 100%. Yes, we are ambitious and aspirational just like any other UPSC aspirant.
Why is Mentorship Required for UPSC-CSE Prelims in Every Step – From Test Series, to Study Materials, Classes to Doubt Resolution?
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are your main priorities right now? To succeed in UPSC-CSE Prelims 2022, you have to check all these boxes in terms of preparation—
You need clear strategy for next 150 days.
You need to revise effectively to remember whole syllabus at the eve of exam.
You need to practice lots of tests to score accurately, to understand elimination techniques and reduce exam anxiety.
You need to revise current affair of 1.5 years that you have been studying daily.
You need a mentor to fill the critical gaps that have been ignoring till now as you had no one to address them for you.
Santhosh Sir’s Weekly Zoom Session
Do you want to have a mentor who conducts and evaluates medium to advanced test series regularly? A mentor explains to you the different kinds of elimination techniques after you have taken a test series. Before attending a test do you want the mentor to discuss with you the study materials required for the test and provide the right notes with integrated current affairs? While studying a subject, you might have umpteen number of questions. Having someone who responds quickly and explains the topics in simple terms saves your time. And, after a test do you want an experienced mentor to discuss the right answers and motivate you? Do you want the mentor to provide you classes on static+dynamic prelims topics? If yes, then this is the right program for you! The registrations are open for all UPSC 2022 aspirants
Self Preparation with Mentorship: What do Civilsdaily Students think of Santosh Sir’s Mentorship for UPSC-CSE Prelims?
Santhosh Sir, Core Civilsdaily Mentor. He has attended Interview Thrice & Cleared Prelims 6/6 times with above 145 marks.
We asked Santosh sir’s students about their opinion on mentorship — if it was something that saved their time or wasted their time in studies and this is what they had to say:
Kamini: “If I can say in one word, then Santosh sir’s mentorship is unique. Before I joined his program, I used to score 90 marks in Full Length Test Series. Santhosh sir had done in depth analysis of my test papers and suggested ways to reduce the negatives. Right now I am able to score 100+ in advanced test series of not only Civilsdaily but other institutes. He is always available to clear my doubts and solve my issues on call or phone. No issue is too big enough for Santosh sir. He has always told me after you finish a test series, read the same topics again and take another test series the same day to see if your marks improve. From Santosh sir’s polity and economic survey notes, we got questions in 2021 Prelims. I always feel its better to do self studies with mentorship than join coaching institutes and get spoon fed with information.”
Sweetie Raj: “I am a banking professional, living with a joint family. Attending coaching classes is out of question because I won’t have time to read the books myself. Santosh sir helps me self-study by providing me mentorship daily. I study daily from 9PM to 3AM. Santosh sir has been available for 1 hour strategy calls even during this time. No other teacher would have wanted me to succeed as much as he wants me to. I can understand concepts by myself and don’t need help in that. I want someone who pushes me to complete the target modules, checks if I did my mains answer writing for the day and analyses the previous year question papers with me. Because of Santosh sir, I understood that its just not enough reading one book but at the same time I dont have to waste time reading many books. He tells me the topic-wise sources to refer. Also he has designed a study plan for me that I can follow every week. Once, I told Santhosh sir I was missing test series discussion classes as it was conducted at 7PM. Immediately, he provided me recorded videos and kept the session at 8.30PM.”
Specific Features of Smash Prelims 2022 by Santosh Sir
Sincere aspirants who are scoring in the range of 80-90 marks must not attend last minute crash courses right now. They should instead focus on self revision, test series practice and guided mentorship to qualify for UPSC Prelims 2022. Here are the features of Prelims Focused Program by Civilsdaily —
Pillar-1
PRELIMS TESTS:
40 Full Length Tests(12 Basic + 6 Advanced + 10 CA tests + 8 Full tests + 4 CSAT).
In addition to this, in the month of January, we will have 60 sectional tests for practice. This will have 50 questions each. Hence, totally 100 Test Papers (40 FLTs + 60 Sectional Test Papers)
FIRST TEST WILL START ON JANUARY 15TH. SO, REGISTER ASAP.
VALUE ADDITIONS NOTES AND CLASSES BY VETERAN CIVILSDAILY MENTORS like SUDHANSHU SIR, SAJAL SIR & SUKANYA MA’AM
Polity: Sudhanshu sirwill conduct two sessions covering all the Polity Fundamentals, a session analyzing past year papers, another session on important current affairs related to polity this year and will discuss your test solutions.
History: Santosh Gupta sir will conduct a session on Sectoral Developments in Modern History, a session analyzing past year papers, and test discussion.
Economy: Sajal sir will conduct sessions on economic survey, trend analysis, discussion of most important economic current affairs, past year paper analysis, and economy final test discussion.
Geography: Santosh sir will conduct sessions on the most difficult aspects like Geography Mapping, Economic Geography, and Indian Agriculture.
Environment:Sukanya Ma’amwill cover sessions on Environment innovatively. Key concepts like vegetation and biome, Indian wildlife, conventions and protocols, national parks and sanctuaries, agriculture and sustainable development, and environment current affairs will be covered.
Science & Technology: This year’s prelims paper questioned on the basic concepts of science. Keeping this in mind, Santosh Gupta sir will conduct 2 sessions on One basic concept and current affairs of science and technology.
2. Civilsdaily Current Affairs Magazines for 1 year
3. Civilsdaily compilations of Yojna, Kurukshetra, PRS and RS TV.
4. Civilsdaily Budget And Economic Survey Summary.
5. Handouts on key subject-wise static topics to remember the terms and definitions for Prelims 2022.
Pillar-3
Santosh Gupta sir’s mentorship program
1. Introductory mentor call to every aspirant immediately upon commencement of program.
2. Weekly zoom strategy session by Santosh sir for doubt clearance and continuous improvement.
3. 1-1 mentor calls after 3-4 tests by mentor. After every test series, zoom sessions will be conducted by Birendra sir with all members of the batch for test discussion.
4. Support from mentors on the Habitat Group.
5. Frequent sessions with toppers for support and guidance. will have these special features for aspirants.
6. Mentor will guide on the FCE Approach i.e the Factual and Conceptual Methods of Elimination.
7. Mentor call as per request and mandatory check up call by mentor once a month.
Toppers’ Speak: How Civilsdaily Mentorship Helped Me Clear UPSC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwO38weHAA
About Santosh Gupta Sir
Santosh sir has scored above 140 twice in UPSC prelims and 120 plus in all 6 attempts. He has written all 6 mains and has appeared for Interviews 3 times. He has qualified UPSC EPFO and BPSC 56-59th also. As the Prelims coordinator at Civilsdaily, he has helped 15 out of 25 students clear the prelims examination this year.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
GS-1 The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country
GS-2 Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
GS-3 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
GS-4 Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections
HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.
You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.
Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.
Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.
If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis
If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.
We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.
*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
GS-1 Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues
GS-2 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
GS-3 Indian Economy
GS-4 Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.
HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.
You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.
Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.
Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.
If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th October is uploaded on 11th October then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis
If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th October is uploaded on 13th October, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.
We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.
*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Recently, in the exercise of provisions under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Central Government has notified the Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the State Commission, and the National Commission) Rules, 2021.
The Government has notified these rules to prohibit all direct selling entities from promoting pyramid schemes or money circulation schemes, while also providing for a mechanism for redressal of consumer complaints.
What is consumerism?
Consumerism is a movement that promotes the interests of buyers of goods and services.
Its main aimis to protect the consumer from unsafe or low quality of products, fraudulent advertising, labeling, packing and business practices that limits competition.
Why consumerism is important?
Illegal price hike: It is the wholesalers and middlemen who indulge in illegal activities like dumping of goods to create artificial scarcity and raise the prices of commodities which will increase their profits.
Affects all sections of society: So, consumerism is a national problem affecting every section of the society such as men and women, young or old and youth or child.
Form of social Action: Hence, consumer protection is a form of social action which will be designed to achieve the well-being of the one or group within a society. There is a need to extend consumerism in India.
What are the Consumer Rights?
Consumer right is an insight into what rights consumer holds when it comes to the seller who provides the goods.
In general, the consumer rights in India are listed below:
(1) Right to Safety
Means right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services, which are hazardous to life and property.
The purchased goods and services should not only meet their immediate needs, but also fulfil long term interests.
Before purchasing, consumers should insist on the quality of the products as well as on the guarantee of the products and services. They should preferably purchase quality marked products such as ISI, AGMARK, etc.
(2) Right to be Informed
Means right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.
Consumer should insist on getting all the information about the product or service before making a choice or a decision.
This will enable him to act wisely and responsibly and also enable him to desist from falling prey to high pressure selling techniques.
(3) Right to Choose
Means right to be assured, wherever possible of access to variety of goods and services at competitive price. In case of monopolies, it means right to be assured of satisfactory quality and service at a fair price.
It also includes right to basic goods and services. This is because unrestricted right of the minority to choose can mean a denial for the majority of its fair share.
(4) Right to be Heard
Means that consumer’s interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums. It also includes right to be represented in various forums formed to consider the consumer’s welfare.
(5) Right to Seek redressal
Means right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers. It also includes right to fair settlement of the genuine grievances of the consumer.
Consumers must make complaint for their genuine grievances. Many a times their complaint may be of small value but its impact on the society as a whole may be very large.
(6) Right to Consumer Education
Means the right to acquire the knowledge and skill to be an informed consumer throughout life.
Ignorance of consumers, particularly of rural consumers, is mainly responsible for their exploitation.
Consumer Protection Laws in India
(1) The Consumer Protection Act, 1986
It enforces rights of consumers and provides for redressal of complaints at the district, state and national level. Such complaints may be regarding defects in goods or deficiency in services.
The Act also recognises offences such as unfair trade practices, which include providing false information regarding the quality or quantity of a good or service, and misleading advertisements.
Over the years, there have been challenges in the implementation of the Act.
(2) The Consumer Protection Act, 2019
The latest Act provides a better mechanism to dispose of consumer complaints in a speedy manner and will help in the disposal of a large number of pending cases in consumer courts across the nation.
Key Features
1) Definition of consumer
A consumer is defined as a person who buys any good or avails a service for a consideration.
It does not include a person who obtains a good for resale or a good or service for commercial purpose.
It covers transactions through all modes including offline, and online through electronic means, teleshopping, multi-level marketing or direct selling.
2) Rights of consumers
The following consumer rights have been defined in the Act, including the right to:
be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property;
be informed of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services;
be assured of access to a variety of goods or services at competitive prices; and
seek redressal against unfair or restrictive trade practices
3) Establishment of Central Consumer Protection Authority
The central government will set up a CCPA to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers.
It is empowered to:
conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute complaints/prosecution,
order recall of unsafe goods and services,
order discontinuance of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements
impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements
The CCPA will have an investigation wing, headed by a Director-General, which may conduct inquiry or investigation into such violations.
4) Penalties for misleading advertisement
The CCPA may impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to Rs. 10 lakh and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement.
In case of a subsequent offence, the fine may extend to Rs. 50 lakh and imprisonment of up to five years.
CCPA can also prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from endorsing that particular product or service for a period of up to one year.
For every subsequent offence, the period of prohibition may extend to three years.
5) Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
CDRCs will be set up at the district, state, and national levels.
A consumer can file a complaint with CDRCs in relation to: unfair or restrictive trade practices; defective goods or services etc.
Complaints against an unfair contract can be filed with only the State and National Appeals from a District CDRC will be heard by the State CDRC.
Appeals from the State CDRC will be heard by the National CDRC. Final appeal will lie before the Supreme Court.
6) Jurisdiction of CDRCs
The District CDRC will entertain complaints where value of goods and services does not exceed Rs one crore.
The State CDRC will entertain complaints when the value is more than Rs 1 crore but does not exceed Rs 10 crore.
Complaints with value of goods and services over Rs 10 crore will be entertained by the National CDRC.
7) Product liability
Product liability means the liability of a product manufacturer, service provider or seller to compensate a consumer for any harm or injury caused by a defective good or deficient service.
A manufacturer or product service provider or product seller will be held responsible to compensate for injury or damage caused by defective product or deficiency in services.
Basis for product liability action:
manufacturing defect
design defect
deviation from manufacturing specifications
Not conforming to express warranty
failing to contain adequate instructions for correct use
service provided-faulty, imperfect or deficient
To claim compensation, a consumer has to prove any one of the conditions for defect or deficiency, as given in the Act.
(3) Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020
E-commerce entities are required to provide information to consumers, relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods, and security of payment methods, charge-back options and country of origin.
These are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage.
These platforms will have to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within 48 hours and redress the complaint within one month from the date of receipt.
They will also have to appoint a grievance officer for consumer grievance redressal.
The Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 are mandatory and are not advisories.
Sellers cannot refuse to take back goods or withdraw services or refuse refunds, if such goods or services are defective, deficient, delivered late, or if they do not meet the description on the platform.
The rules also prohibit the e-commerce companies from manipulating the price of the goods or services to gain unreasonable profit through unjustified prices.
(4) Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the State Commission, and the National Commission) Rules, 2021
Pecuniary Jurisdiction
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 promulgates a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for redressal of consumer disputes namely district commissions, state commissions and national commissions.
As per the existing provisions of the Act, District Commissions have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed one crore rupees.
State Commissions have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration, exceeds 1 crore rupees, but does not exceed 10 crore rupees and
National Commission has jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of goods or services paid as consideration exceeds 10 crore rupees.
But the existing provisions relating to pecuniary jurisdiction of consumer commissions were leading to rising in pendency and delay in disposal of cases.
Changes in Consumer Protection Rules, 2021
District Commissions shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed 50 lakh rupees.
State Commissions shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration exceeds 50 lakh rupees but does not exceed 2 crore rupees.
National Commission shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where the value of the goods or services paid as consideration exceeds 2 crore rupees.
Time for disposal of Complaint
It may be mentioned that the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 stipulates that every complaint shall be disposed within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of notice by the opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or testing of commodities and within 5 months if it requires analysis or testing of commodities.
e-Filing of complaint: E-Daakhil Portal
The Act also provides consumers with the option of filing complaints electronically.
The Central Government has set up the E-Daakhil Portal, which provides a hassle-free, speedy and inexpensive facility to consumers to conveniently approach the relevant consumer forum.
E-Daakhil has many features like e-Notice, case document download link & VC hearing link, filing written response by the opposite party, filing rejoinder by complainant and alerts via SMS/Email.
Presently, the facility of E-Daakhil is available in 544 consumer commissions, which includes the National Commission and consumer commissions in 21 states and 3 UTs.
So far, more than 10,000 cases have been filed using the E-Daakhil Portal and more than 43000 users have registered on the portal.
Mediation
To provide a faster and amicable mode of settling consumer disputes, the Act also includes a reference of consumer disputes to Mediation, with the consent of both parties.
This will not only save time and money for the parties involved in litigating the dispute but will also aid in reducing the overall pendency of cases.
Way Forward
Misleading ads, tele-marketing, multi-level marketing, direct selling and e-commerce pose new challenges to consumer protection and will require appropriate and swift executive intervention to prevent consumer detriment.
Arm-twisting of weaker parties: Certain issues such as the appointment of mediators to settle disputes are contentious as this would lead to arm-twisting of the weaker parties and may encourage corruption.
Need to strengthen CCPA: Addressing these issues is necessary to ensure that the new amendments bring about definitive improvements in the CCPA.
Need to fill vacancies at the district commission level: The existing vacancies at the district commission level would undermine the effective implementation of the Act.
Guidelines for celebrity endorsements: Countries such as the UK, Ireland and Belgium have specifically banned celebrity endorsement of unhealthy foods. The impact of such restrictions has been reported to be significant.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Let’s admit this— As much as we have heard our seniors, mentors and toppers advise us to answer fewer questions in Prelims exams due to negative marking, do we want to follow it? All of us wish to answer as many questions as possible correctly. However, post 2014, questions have started getting tougher so much that now –
“Prelims is no longer about selecting the right option. It’s searching for the correct option by eliminating the incorrect ones.”
Let’s take a sample question from Prelims 2021 Paper —
Constitutional government means:
a representative government of a nation with federal structure
a government whose Head enjoys nominal powers
a government whose Head enjoys real powers
a government limited by the terms of the Constitution
An average aspirant gets confused between 2-3 options. Option a), b) and d) look equally correct but you have to select only one. The right answer is option d). How can you find out what was the missing criteria in option a) and b) which option d) fulfilled to emerge as the right answer?
Attend the free webinar by Sajal and Sudhanshu sir to get the answer.
Prelims question papers have become more or less like a game of Sudoko. Except, in Sudoko you can solve the puzzle at your leisure and over here you are limited by 2 hours. We hope this webinar will help all 2022 aspirants implement the suggestions of Sajal sir & Sudhanshu sir
SajalSingh has the distinction be being 2017 topper of GS Mains. He has appeared for interview 3 times. Over 400 students have emerged as toppers under SajalSir’s mentorship in the last 7 years.
Sudhanshu (IIM-K, MBA cont.) has first-hand experience of UPSC civil services and helped many candidates sail through. Prior to this he had served in India’s largest industrial defense complex under Ministry of Defense for 10 years. He also keeps a keen interest in regional and global geopolitics with contributions in several online portals including CivilsDaily IAS.
Group Studies for UPSC-CSE has it’s pros and cons. At it’s best, you are exposed to highly competitive and helpful aspirants who will share their knowledge and resources with you. You also get to discuss and debate on important current affairs issues with like-minded peers. When everyone transparently shares their marks, you get motivated to perform better. You will also understand easy ways to complete your preparation from another person.
But, many a times this ideal is not achieved and group studies initiatives fail. This is because there is no one to lead the group and provide a structured agenda for everyone to follow. Every aspirant is busy, wrapped up in their own schedule that they don’t meet up often.
At Civilsdaily, we are bridging this gap and turning the ideal to reality. Our mentors lead the telegram channels and give a direction for all aspirants to contribute. Doubts are resolved, notes are shared, timetable is laid out for everyone to complete.
Are you finding Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE to be a time-consuming affair? Do you either spend the entire day reading only current affairs or skip reading it for many days? Is there a lack of clarity while answering current affairs questions? Do you want to know the right approach to prepare for UPSC-CSE Current affairs without wasting time on trial and error? Then it’s time you filled the Samanvaya form for free 1-on-1 counselling session with an experienced faculty from Civilsdaily!
Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE doesn’t only test an aspirant’s basic understanding, but their ability to critically analyze and remember certain very important details. It requires you to do match the following — you need to match the topic in your UPSC syllabus with the current affairs as you read. For example, India has placed an anti-dumping duty recently on China to protect it’s local manufacturers from cheap imports. This news is related to GS 3 Economics and comes under Foreign Trade topic.
But that’s not all. Current Affairs is the key component that you cannot do without in all the 3 stages of your UPSC-CSE preparation — Prelims, Mains and Interview. And the way you are supposed to prepare for current affairs under each stage varies. You have to remember facts for Prelims, understand the background, challenges and the solutions of current events for Mains and for Interview you should be able to drive meaningful discussions with your current affairs knowledge. Hence, simply reading a newspaper cannot help you ace current affairs for UPSC-CSE.
Unlike popular notion, importance of current affairs isn’t decreasing in UPSC-CSE papers. Rather, it’s become a part and parcel of every topic in the Core Subjects like Economy, Polity, Science and Environment. Let’s understand this with a question asked in UPSC-CSE Mains 2020 —
Which steps are required for constitutionalization of a commission? Do you think imparting constitutionality to the National Commission for Women would ensure greater gender justice and empowerment in India? Give reasons.
This question needs you to have current knowledge on government policies/interventions, constitutional and non-constitutional bodies, constitutional provisions and issues related to developmental and management of social sectors. That’s totally 4 topics for one answer!
Remembering current affairs indices for Prelims MCQs & using them to substantiate answers in Mains is crucial to get marks above cut-off.
Why Samanvaya for UPSC-CSE Current Affairs Preparation?
In UPSC 2020, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in their exams. In the top 100, every 3rd ranker was a Civilsdaily student.
A very recent success story would be Vishwa Shah, student of Civilsdaily Mentor, Sukanya Ma’am. Vishwa has cleared the GPSC exam to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Gujarat. He has penned a thank-you note yesterday. Heartiest Congratulations to Vishwa!
One of our other Civilsdaily Student, Shubham Nagargojecleared the exams in 2020 to become an IPS Officer. Shubham was gracious enough to let us know how he felt about Civilsdaily Samanvaya Guidance under Parth sir.
To know how all of them cleared the exam with our mentorship, visit the UnherdPodcast.
Now that results are announced for UPSC 2021 Prelims, out of 15 out of 25 students of Santhosh Gupta sir have been recommended to Mains. One such student, Rahul expresses his gratitude and extends his appreciation.
Most of our Mentors like Sudhanshu sir, Sajal sir, Santhosh sir, Pravin sir, Parth Verma sir and Sukanya Ma’am were UPSC aspirants themselves and have attended UPSC Mains more than five times and UPSC Interview more than twice. Hence their mentorship is always a blend of the best test series, comprehensive notes and current affairs knowledge.
All of them dedicate their time weekly to give 1-on-1 mentorship to every student where they discuss last week’s performance and next week’s approach.
Be it Telegram, Whatsapp or Habitiat channels, they are always available and clear student’s doubts in a turnaround time of 24 Hours.
Why Civilsdaily Mentors are the GPS for Your UPSC-CSE Preparation
Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to get out of the tunnel you have to follow the direction of the light! Our mentors’ give you direction which is divided into daily modules. All you have to do is study and complete them on time.
As every year passes by, we don’t get confident by the previous years’ performance and become laidback. Instead, we become more hungry to convert all our students into toppers.
How are Current Civilsdaily Students Gearing up for UPSC-CSE 2022?
Initially, our Civilsdaily student Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE back in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 35 marks out of 200 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
In Smriti’s own words she describes her Samanvaya Mentorship Experience to be —
“Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support for UPSC. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants. That’s when my mentor, Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end mentorship via value added notes, classes, test series and detailed evaluation.”
Similarly our another Civilsdaily student, Ashishsums up his Samanvaya experience with Civilsdaily mentor,Pravin Sir, “Because of Pravin sir’s support, I am able to understand a topic in lesser time.”
This is how Pravin sir evaluates Ashish’s Mains Test Series every week. After every test series evaluation, Pravin sir schedules a 1 hour call to discuss how Ashish can improve his marks and the sources he can refer for key topics.
It’s Your Turn Get the Free 40 Min Counselling Session By a CD Mentor
At the core of Samanvaya lies the fact that each one of you will have a unique journey while preparing for the exam. Some will get through on the first attempt without much effort while others will take both more time and more effort.
We want to understand you better to help you optimize your journey so you can focus on the right things and not waste time on the wrong ones. We are asking you to tap into the valuable experiences of mentors who underwent the same grind and realize the pitfalls and understand the shortcuts to make it.
In the first counselling session, we will understand your weaknesses. Over 80% of students who claimed to have revised NCERTs twice were unable to answer basic questions. Many were not comfortable with at least 1 GS subject and Optional. Many struggled with ‘What went wrong’ after 2-3 years of hard work. Our mentors will provide free preliminary assignments so that we can assess your preparedness and suggest accurate strategies. We then help you to stick to one plan or strategy throughout your preparation.
Are you finding Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE to be a time-consuming affair? Do you either spend the entire day reading only current affairs or skip reading it for many days? Is there a lack of clarity while answering current affairs questions? Do you want to know the right approach to prepare for UPSC-CSE Current affairs without wasting time on trial and error? Then it’s time you filled the Samanvaya form for free 1-on-1 counselling session with an experienced faculty from Civilsdaily!
Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE doesn’t only test an aspirant’s basic understanding, but their ability to critically analyze and remember certain very important details. It requires you to do match the following — you need to match the topic in your UPSC syllabus with the current affairs as you read. For example, India has placed an anti-dumping duty recently on China to protect it’s local manufacturers from cheap imports. This news is related to GS 3 Economics and comes under Foreign Trade topic.
But that’s not all. Current Affairs is the key component that you cannot do without in all the 3 stages of your UPSC-CSE preparation — Prelims, Mains and Interview. And the way you are supposed to prepare for current affairs under each stage varies. You have to remember facts for Prelims, understand the background, challenges and the solutions of current events for Mains and for Interview you should be able to drive meaningful discussions with your current affairs knowledge. Hence, simply reading a newspaper cannot help you ace current affairs for UPSC-CSE.
Unlike popular notion, importance of current affairs isn’t decreasing in UPSC-CSE papers. Rather, it’s become a part and parcel of every topic in the Core Subjects like Economy, Polity, Science and Environment. Let’s understand this with a question asked in UPSC-CSE Mains 2020 —
Which steps are required for constitutionalization of a commission? Do you think imparting constitutionality to the National Commission for Women would ensure greater gender justice and empowerment in India? Give reasons.
This question needs you to have current knowledge on government policies/interventions, constitutional and non-constitutional bodies, constitutional provisions and issues related to developmental and management of social sectors. That’s totally 4 topics for one answer!
Remembering current affairs indices for Prelims MCQs & using them to substantiate answers in Mains is crucial to get marks above cut-off.
Why Samanvaya for UPSC-CSE Current Affairs Preparation?
In UPSC 2020, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in their exams. In the top 100, every 3rd ranker was a Civilsdaily student.
A very recent success story would be Vishwa Shah, student of Civilsdaily Mentor, Sukanya Ma’am. Vishwa has cleared the GPSC exam to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Gujarat. He has penned a thank-you note yesterday. Heartiest Congratulations to Vishwa!
One of our other Civilsdaily Student, Shubham Nagargojecleared the exams in 2020 to become an IPS Officer. Shubham was gracious enough to let us know how he felt about Civilsdaily Samanvaya Guidance under Parth sir.
To know how all of them cleared the exam with our mentorship, visit the UnherdPodcast.
Now that results are announced for UPSC 2021 Prelims, out of 15 out of 25 students of Santhosh Gupta sir have been recommended to Mains. One such student, Rahul expresses his gratitude and extends his appreciation.
Most of our Mentors like Sudhanshu sir, Sajal sir, Santhosh sir, Pravin sir, Parth Verma sir and Sukanya Ma’am were UPSC aspirants themselves and have attended UPSC Mains more than five times and UPSC Interview more than twice. Hence their mentorship is always a blend of the best test series, comprehensive notes and current affairs knowledge.
All of them dedicate their time weekly to give 1-on-1 mentorship to every student where they discuss last week’s performance and next week’s approach.
Be it Telegram, Whatsapp or Habitiat channels, they are always available and clear student’s doubts in a turnaround time of 24 Hours.
Why Civilsdaily Mentors are the GPS for Your UPSC-CSE Preparation
Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to get out of the tunnel you have to follow the direction of the light! Our mentors’ give you direction which is divided into daily modules. All you have to do is study and complete them on time.
As every year passes by, we don’t get confident by the previous years’ performance and become laidback. Instead, we become more hungry to convert all our students into toppers.
How are Current Civilsdaily Students Gearing up for UPSC-CSE 2022?
Initially, our Civilsdaily student Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE back in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 35 marks out of 200 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
In Smriti’s own words she describes her Samanvaya Mentorship Experience to be —
“Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support for UPSC. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants. That’s when my mentor, Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end mentorship via value added notes, classes, test series and detailed evaluation.”
Similarly our another Civilsdaily student, Ashishsums up his Samanvaya experience with Civilsdaily mentor,Pravin Sir, “Because of Pravin sir’s support, I am able to understand a topic in lesser time.”
This is how Pravin sir evaluates Ashish’s Mains Test Series every week. After every test series evaluation, Pravin sir schedules a 1 hour call to discuss how Ashish can improve his marks and the sources he can refer for key topics.
It’s Your Turn Get the Free 40 Min Counselling Session By a CD Mentor
At the core of Samanvaya lies the fact that each one of you will have a unique journey while preparing for the exam. Some will get through on the first attempt without much effort while others will take both more time and more effort.
We want to understand you better to help you optimize your journey so you can focus on the right things and not waste time on the wrong ones. We are asking you to tap into the valuable experiences of mentors who underwent the same grind and realize the pitfalls and understand the shortcuts to make it.
In the first counselling session, we will understand your weaknesses. Over 80% of students who claimed to have revised NCERTs twice were unable to answer basic questions. Many were not comfortable with at least 1 GS subject and Optional. Many struggled with ‘What went wrong’ after 2-3 years of hard work. Our mentors will provide free preliminary assignments so that we can assess your preparedness and suggest accurate strategies. We then help you to stick to one plan or strategy throughout your preparation.
Are you finding Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE to be a time-consuming affair? Do you either spend the entire day reading only current affairs or skip reading it for many days? Is there a lack of clarity while answering current affairs questions? Do you want to know the right approach to prepare for UPSC-CSE Current affairs without wasting time on trial and error? Then it’s time you filled the Samanvaya form for free 1-on-1 counselling session with an experienced faculty from Civilsdaily!
Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE doesn’t only test an aspirant’s basic understanding, but their ability to critically analyze and remember certain very important details. It requires you to do match the following — you need to match the topic in your UPSC syllabus with the current affairs as you read. For example, India has placed an anti-dumping duty recently on China to protect it’s local manufacturers from cheap imports. This news is related to GS 3 Economics and comes under Foreign Trade topic.
But that’s not all. Current Affairs is the key component that you cannot do without in all the 3 stages of your UPSC-CSE preparation — Prelims, Mains and Interview. And the way you are supposed to prepare for current affairs under each stage varies. You have to remember facts for Prelims, understand the background, challenges and the solutions of current events for Mains and for Interview you should be able to drive meaningful discussions with your current affairs knowledge. Hence, simply reading a newspaper cannot help you ace current affairs for UPSC-CSE.
Unlike popular notion, importance of current affairs isn’t decreasing in UPSC-CSE papers. Rather, it’s become a part and parcel of every topic in the Core Subjects like Economy, Polity, Science and Environment. Let’s understand this with a question asked in UPSC-CSE Mains 2020 —
Which steps are required for constitutionalization of a commission? Do you think imparting constitutionality to the National Commission for Women would ensure greater gender justice and empowerment in India? Give reasons.
This question needs you to have current knowledge on government policies/interventions, constitutional and non-constitutional bodies, constitutional provisions and issues related to developmental and management of social sectors. That’s totally 4 topics for one answer!
Remembering current affairs indices for Prelims MCQs & using them to substantiate answers in Mains is crucial to get marks above cut-off.
Why Samanvaya for UPSC-CSE Current Affairs Preparation?
In UPSC 2020, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in their exams. In the top 100, every 3rd ranker was a Civilsdaily student.
A very recent success story would be Vishwa Shah, student of Civilsdaily Mentor, Sukanya Ma’am. Vishwa has cleared the GPSC exam to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Gujarat. He has penned a thank-you note yesterday. Heartiest Congratulations to Vishwa!
One of our other Civilsdaily Student, Shubham Nagargojecleared the exams in 2020 to become an IPS Officer. Shubham was gracious enough to let us know how he felt about Civilsdaily Samanvaya Guidance under Parth sir.
To know how all of them cleared the exam with our mentorship, visit the UnherdPodcast.
Now that results are announced for UPSC 2021 Prelims, out of 15 out of 25 students of Santhosh Gupta sir have been recommended to Mains. One such student, Rahul expresses his gratitude and extends his appreciation.
Most of our Mentors like Sudhanshu sir, Sajal sir, Santhosh sir, Pravin sir, Parth Verma sir and Sukanya Ma’am were UPSC aspirants themselves and have attended UPSC Mains more than five times and UPSC Interview more than twice. Hence their mentorship is always a blend of the best test series, comprehensive notes and current affairs knowledge.
All of them dedicate their time weekly to give 1-on-1 mentorship to every student where they discuss last week’s performance and next week’s approach.
Be it Telegram, Whatsapp or Habitiat channels, they are always available and clear student’s doubts in a turnaround time of 24 Hours.
Why Civilsdaily Mentors are the GPS for Your UPSC-CSE Preparation
Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to get out of the tunnel you have to follow the direction of the light! Our mentors’ give you direction which is divided into daily modules. All you have to do is study and complete them on time.
As every year passes by, we don’t get confident by the previous years’ performance and become laidback. Instead, we become more hungry to convert all our students into toppers.
How are Current Civilsdaily Students Gearing up for UPSC-CSE 2022?
Initially, our Civilsdaily student Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE back in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 35 marks out of 200 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
In Smriti’s own words she describes her Samanvaya Mentorship Experience to be —
“Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support for UPSC. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants. That’s when my mentor, Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end mentorship via value added notes, classes, test series and detailed evaluation.”
Similarly our another Civilsdaily student, Ashishsums up his Samanvaya experience with Civilsdaily mentor,Pravin Sir, “Because of Pravin sir’s support, I am able to understand a topic in lesser time.”
This is how Pravin sir evaluates Ashish’s Mains Test Series every week. After every test series evaluation, Pravin sir schedules a 1 hour call to discuss how Ashish can improve his marks and the sources he can refer for key topics.
It’s Your Turn Get the Free 40 Min Counselling Session By a CD Mentor
At the core of Samanvaya lies the fact that each one of you will have a unique journey while preparing for the exam. Some will get through on the first attempt without much effort while others will take both more time and more effort.
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The Internet of Things (IoT) can become a game-changer that India needs as this concept is set to disrupt almost every sector in India from smart cities and telecom to manufacturing and mobility. The rapid development in the IoT leads to the starting of the next digital revolution. However, the Internet of Things throws up many challenges like data safety and privacy. So India needs to push ahead with this concept to kick-start the radical development process with the proper regulatory framework in place to govern IoT.
What is the Internet of Things?
IoT is the network of devices, vehicles, and home appliances that contain electronics, software, actuators, and connectivity which allows these things to connect, interact and exchange data.
IoT involves extending Internet connectivity beyond standard devices, such as desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets to everyday objects.
These objects may be anything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices.
It can also be components of machines, for example, a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig.
Embedded with technology, these devices can communicate and interact over the Internet, and they can be remotely monitored and controlled.
Thus, it is all about connecting devices over the internet and letting them ‘talk’ to us, applications, and each other.
However, the Internet of Things doesn’t necessarily have to be connected to the internet; it can also be a network of things.
Advantages of IoT
Monitor Data: It helps us know the precise quantity of supplies or the air quality in home, it can also provide more data that could not have previously been possible to collect easily. For instance, monitoring the expiration of products will improve safety.
Ease of Access: Right now, one can easily gain the required information in real-time, from almost any location. It only takes a smart device and an internet connection. Example using Google Maps to see our location, instead of asking a person in real life.
Speedy Operation: All this data pouring in enables us to complete multiple tasks with amazing speed. For example, IoT makes automation effortless. Smart industries automate repetitive tasks, thus allowing employees to invest their time and effort into more challenging things.
Adapting to New Standards: As IoT is an ever-changing topic, its changes are minimal compared to the other techs of the high-tech world. Without IoT, it would be complicated for us to keep track of all the latest things.
Better Time Management: IoT is a clever time-saving tool. We can look up the latest news on our phones during our daily commute, or check a blog about our favourite pastime, purchase an item in an online shop, we can do almost all the things from the palm of our hands.
Automation and Control: Without human interference, the machines are communicating with each other providing faster and timely output.
Saving Money: Another main advantage of IoT is saving money. If the cost of the tagging and monitoring machines are less compared with the amount of money saved, this is the reason for the Internet of Things being very widely adopted.
Allowing the data to be communicated and shared between devices and then translating it into our required way, makes our systems efficient.
Applications of Internet of Things
(1) Daily Lives
There can be several IoT examples in our day-to-day lives.
For instance, a person returning home after his office hours can call his coffee-maker to make the coffee ready when he reaches home.
IoT can be used to water the plants of the garden whenever the moisture level falls below a certain limit.
We can utilize IoT to convert a normal home into a smart home. It can be used in energy efficiency in homes and office places.
(2) Industry
IoT’s effects may vary from industry to industry based on its utilization.
In the manufacturing sector, IoT can be utilized to enhance performance, minimize human-induced errors and consequently improve the overall quality of the manufactured products.
In the IT sector, utilization of IoT can result in improvement in services, development of more advanced software and digital services, etc.
(3) Agriculture
IoT can be utilized to collect data about rainfall, soil moisture, soil nutrients, pest infestation, etc.
It can assist in making informed decisions to increase agricultural production as well as reducing the risks of crop failures etc.
It can help make agriculture profitable with better price-discovery for farmers through smart techniques.
(4) Healthcare
Medical practitioners and doctors can use IoT to remotely monitor the patient’s health.
Smart beds can detect when the patient is trying to get up, his abnormal activities, etc.
Specialized sensors for senior citizens can be developed with the help of IoT.
Wearable heart monitors can help monitor the heartbeats, blood pressure of patients, etc.
It can revolutionize telemedicine applications.
(5) Media
Corporate media houses can utilize IoT to monitor consumer habits for the purpose of behavior targeting = display consumer-specific advertisements. They can utilize Big Data and Data Mining for this purpose.
(6) Transportation
IoT can be used in driverless cars and improve intra-vehicular communication to reduce accidents and traffic jams etc.
We can use it for electronic toll collections, smart parking, smart traffic management, etc.
IoT can be useful in logistics, fleet management, safety assistance, etc.
(7) Smart cities
IoT can be utilized in solid waste management systems to improve the cleanliness of the city.
Smart meters and power grids can improve energy efficiency and reduce transmission loss.
IoT can be used to track the air pollution levels in the cities and give a warning when it breaches the prescribed safety levels.
IoT can also be used to develop smart transportation systems to minimize congestion in the cities.
(8) Smart Retail
IoT provides an opportunity to retailers to connect with the customers to enhance the in-store experience. Interacting through Smartphones and using Beacon technology can help retailers serve their consumers better.
They can also track consumers’ paths through a store and improve store layout and place premium products in high traffic areas.
(9) Energy Engagement
Power grids of the future will not only be smart enough but also highly reliable.
The basic idea behind the smart grids is to collect data in an automated fashion and analyze the behavior or electricity consumers and suppliers for improving efficiency as well as the economics of electricity use.
Smart Grids will also be able to detect sources of power outages more quickly and at individual household levels like a nearby solar panels, making possible distributed energy systems.
What is the case with India?
IoT is the natural evolution of the internet and has many benefits including boosting global economies, improving public utilities, and increasing efficiencies.
Many of our global counterparts have already begun reaping the rewards of investing in IoT-based infrastructure.
The Indian government outlined a plan to leverage IoT as part of the Digital India mission.
The Indian IoT market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2020 and constitute 5% of the global market.
Investing in IoT will boost our economy on par with global leaders and it will also bring in investments, create jobs and improve Indian public infrastructure
What are the measures taken by the government to promote IoT?
The central government launched a plan to utilize IoT as part of the Digital India mission.
The government came up with the National Digital Communications Policy 2018 to satisfy the modern realities of the telecom such as 5G technology, IoT, Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, etc.
The government also allowed 100% FDI in the telecom sector. This will help in the development and growth of the IoT.
Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY) has published a draft policy for IoT. The target is to establish an IoT market of USD 15 billion by 2020 and having a share of 5-6% in the global IoT industry.
Challenges with the IoT
Data Breach: Having access to data is excellent. Unfortunately, our personal data is more exposed.
Dependence on Technology: IoT is mainly dependent on the internet connection. When there is none, it can’t be used.
Complexity in Operation: IoT may seem to be managing tasks with ease, a lot of complex operations are done behind it. If by mistake the software makes a wrong calculation, this will affect the rest of the process.
Our Safety: As all the household appliances, industrial machinery, public sector services and many other devices all are connected to the Internet, a lot of information is available on it. This information is prone to attack by hackers. It would be very disastrous if private and confidential information is accessed by unauthorized intruders.
Inter Compatibility: As devices from various manufacturers will be interconnected to each other, the issue of compatibility in tagging and monitoring increases. This disadvantage can be overcome if manufacturers make a common standard, but there is still a possibility that the technical problems may still persist.
Lesser Employment of Menial Staff: The uneducated workers and helpers may lose their jobs as an effect of automation of daily activities. This can lead to unemployment in the society.
Technology Takes Control of Life: Our lives are increasingly controlled by technology and will be dependent on it. The younger generation is already addicted to technology for every little work to be done.
How is IoT impacting the digital transformation of education?
Tracking movement: Integrated systems of IoT, which automatically transmit information about the child boarding the bus, the bus reaching the school, and the child entering the school premises, can be available to both parents and teachers via an app and automated messages.
Attendance system: Teachers and faculty members need not waste time on roll call. Instead, the student’s identity card automatically communicates with the sensors in the classroom and marks attendance.
Automatic sharing: Taking notes and marking critical points is an integral part of a student’s class activity. But, with IoT, all the contents on the black/whiteboard is automatically converted into a portable document and shared over email.
Session capture: An IoT environment automatically captures a classroom session (audio and video) and puts it on a shareable drive. This can be accessed by those students who missed the class. This way learning becomes both inclusive and accessible.
Ensuring security: With COVID-19 still doing the rounds, an IoT-based system integrated with CCTVs can scan the campus and spot people who are not wearing masks. The coordinates can be sent as an SMS and an email to the administrative authority for further action.
Read and translate: IoT can also be used to quickly scan editable text from books, papers, and other documents directly into a phone, tablet or computer and translate into more than 40 languages.
Way forward
IoT makes life easier at the cost of privacy and hence Data Protection Bill can do a lot well in ensuring the privacy of an individual.
Policy-makers, regulators, device manufacturers, supporting industries, and service providers will all have to join hands in creating a safer space online.
In India, the NDCP (National Digital Communications Policy) brought alignment from critical stakeholders to advance India’s infrastructure and security around digital communications.
The draft IoT policy seeks to establish committees to govern and drive IoT-specific initiatives. It is not yet clear how much access to personal data these committees get and how their actions will be monitored.
The Justice Srikrishna Committee had recommended some provisions for personal data protection including a consumer’s right to information, consent, and right to request companies to erase their data if preferred.
