Planned Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

The 10 mistakes made by every UPSC CSE aspirant and the redressal mechanism to avoid them are as enlisted below by AK Mishra, Managing Director, Chanakya IAS Academy

1. NOT STICKING TO THE SYLLABUS: One of the biggest myths every CSE aspirant carries with him at some point of time is that the syllabus of CSE is unlimited and anything can be asked under the sky. To some extent this is true but taking your eyes completely off the syllabus can prove to be fatal in long run and can cost you your resources, time, money and energy. Most of the aspirants start off without going through the syllabus prescribed by the UPSC and within no time finds themselves in no man's land.

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The Syllabus is the roadmap of preparation. It should be the Bible of any aspirant’s course of preparation for this highly coveted exam. Therefore, it needs to be followed and referred at every step of preparation.

2. NOT REFERRING PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION PAPERS: If syllabus is the roadmap, referring previous years question papers are like indicators for the right turn at the right time during the journey of the CSE preparation which most of the students realize at a very later phase of the time.

Every step of preparation (unit/section/chapter) should be followed by instant reference of the questions asked in the recent years (both prelims and mains) pertaining to the respective article. This helps the aspirant to mould his/her preparation in accordance to the latest trends of the questions put up by the board.

3. COLLECTING BOOKS: Mukherjee Nagar & Old Rajinder Nagar are often termed as the 'Mecca and Medina' of UPSC preparation in India and the local markets of these UPSC hubs are flooded with various books of numerous authors and publications. However only handpicked books are genuinely relevant for effective preparation of the examination but due to incomplete knowledge of the UPSC CSE preparations most of the students end up pilling books after books in their room turning it into a junkyard instead of an ideal place of learning.

An aspirant should consult seniors who have cleared the examination (preferable), experienced mentors and genuine/reliable sources and then go for buying of resources and study material so that instead of becoming a 'waste' it turns into a proper 'invest'ment.

4. UNDER-ESTIMATING NCERT's: This is the most microscopic and grave mistake which is committed by almost huge majority of the competing crowd. Ignoring NCERT and directly jumping on a heavy weight book can be the 'beginning of the end' of your UPSC CSE preparation.

For example, if an aspirant directly starts up with D.D. Basu for Indian Polity and Constitution of India, he is bound to end up in a soup. Instead, it has to be steadily initiated with basic reference from 8-12 standard NCERT social science textbooks, a subject which is popularly termed as 'Civics'.

5.  LACK OF WRITING PRACTICE: The preliminary stage of the examination is not considered as selection criteria for enlisting the final merit list for service selection and cadre allocation. The Mains stage is the 'main' part of the whole selection process which does not only requires mere writing answers but the aspirant has to equip himself with a fluent flow of knowledge, facts, and wisdom in a very precise and skillful manner. Lack of writing skill, which aspirants find it to be the most difficult part to overcome, if not rectified within correct time, is a sure guarantee of failure.

To avoid this, writing practice on daily basis rigorously and religiously is a must. However, for real-time results, aspirants must stick to exam oriented writing instead of blogging which will definitely increase the typing skills instead of writing skills. 

6. ILLICIT MANNER OF CHOOSING OPTIONAL: Availability of the Books and study material in the market, ongoing marking and scoring trends of the subject, length and extend of the syllabus and last but not the least, overlapping with the general studies paper. These are the views and opinions which generally run around an aspirant’s mind while choosing an optional which at the end may cause utterly disastrous results.

'Interest' and 'inclination' towards the subject should be the core entities of thought process while choosing the optional. Have a look at the syllabus, go through the previous year’s question papers and most importantly if you can invest hours after hours with the subject without looking at the ticking clock, your inner conscious itself will give you the answer of UPSC CSE preparation's most important answer of 'choosing an optional'.

7. NOT UNDERSTANDING THE CRUX OF NEWSPAPER: Trying to go through multiple newspapers with an overview instead of creatively surfing anyone (Preferable: The Hindu/Indian Express). Collecting and relying on magazines for current affairs (Except The Yojana) as magazines can be a supplement to the newspaper but not a substitute for it. And not understanding 'how to read' and 'what to read' in a newspaper reap low yields in the long run.

Every newspaper has three components if viewed from examination point of view.

Events: This gives you facts. For example, Booker Prize of the year   

Issues: This provides you with views and reviews and helps to develop your individual understanding and opinion over various subjects conventional & contemporary. For example, Syrian War Crisis & Refugee Rehabilitation (IR), Naxalism and Insurgency in the North-East (Internal Security).

Gossips: Page 3.

In addition to this, the newspaper article can be categorized under various segments of news viz. International, India & the world, National, States, Business, Science & Technology, Defense, Space, Sports, persons in the news, prizes and awards and much more which will also enable an aspirant to frame well structured Essays (Paper I). Therefore, effective utilization of newspaper can provide soul to the whole body of an aspirant's UPSC CSE preparation subject to careful and persistent efforts.

8. NOT ANALYZING S.W.A.T.: In long run, students not only fail to maintain the tempo and enthusiasm but also often find themselves in the middle of unbalanced wrong directional preparation because they don't undergo the analysis of their strength and weakness as the nature and the requirement of the examinations demands high dynamism and adaptability from the candidates as every subject has to be approached in their own unique ways (For example, History & Geography).

Therefore, it becomes indispensable for an aspirant to consistently keep cross checking the progress and depressions, the grip over strong areas and loose fist over the weaker sections of the syllabus via. Regular mock tests and classroom test series from time to time.

9. TIME MISMANAGEMENT: Any ambition without a time frame is nothing more than a fantasy. Since aspirants invest years end to end for this prestigious examination time management and completing the targets within the stipulated time frame is one of the most essential necessities for clearing this examination which most of the students fail to cope up with due course of time. Time Management can act as a horse or a hurdle; it all depends on the rider (The Aspirant).

To cleverly clear up with this parameter, every aspirant should have a very sound difference between a task or a target which is 'URGENT' and 'IMPORTANT'. The day an aspirant realized the crystal clear difference between the two, it will eventually result in comfortable prioritizing of short-term tasks and targets to gain long term fruits and benefits.

10: AVOIDING CONSISTENT REVISION: The Secret of getting ahead is getting started. But the essence of relieving information on the examination day is to make a habit of retaining the information first. In simple words, students read, read and read but very often don't revise what they read which may result in poor information retention and to the point delivery of the facts and figures on the day of examination.

Revision is the key. There has to be a very well maintained cohesion between what you read and 'revise' what have you read till date. Video Lectures, Subject Audios and Group Discussions (Group Study) can prove to be a boon for an aspirant of UPSC CSE.

Therefore, by carefully following the above-discussed guidelines any aspirant irrespective of their academic background can realize their dream of making it the most Elite Services of the Country.

What safety measures should be adopted by the government and Indian Railway for the security of passengers after Indore-Patna train accident in Kanpur?

In light of the recent Indore-Patna train accident in Kanpur, discuss the problems related to the safety and security of the passengers traveling in Indian railways. Also, discuss the steps taken by the government in this regard.
Railways in India carry a bulk of passengers every day. Safety, comfort and security of the passengers are therefore very important. A large number of people are dependent upon the railways. Still, there have been many cases of accidents so far. It raises an important question on the efficiency of the department.

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Some of the basic problems of the Indian railways:

• The railways lack innovation, research and development, infrastructure even after getting a financial autonomy.
• Tracks are not managed properly. Most of them are in dilapidated conditions which make them vulnerable for derailment.
• Lack of coordination among the personnel also encourages accidents.
• Poor finances, poor management, are very common in the sector.
• As for speed, Indian superfast trains have speeds of 130km per hour to 160km per hour at the max. Whereas in other countries, the premium trains move as fast as 300km per hour.
• Lack of prioritizing the research and development sector. Finances are directed towards subsidies and benefits to the passengers instead of development.
• There is a populism approach in order to gain votes. Due to which, the goods or freight have to subsidize the passenger fares.
• The budget allocated for railways cannot, therefore meet the railway sector demands.
• There have been several cases of fire in railways which implies that fire safety is not ensured properly.
• There is a lack of preventive methods of accidents. Such as alarm systems or emergency brakes, etc
• Other countries are highly developed in the railway sector. Trains run as fast as 300kmph with almost zero cases of accidents. Moreover, the punctuality of the service is worth praising. There is even compensation for delays in trains.

The steps were taken by the government in this regard:
The Anil kakodkar Committee has recommended several measures to prevent rail accidents. Some of them are:

• Constitution of an independent railway body like the Railway Safety Authority under the government with experts.
• There should be a robust and powerful Safety Architecture.
• Elimination of both manned and unmanned level crossings within the next five years as a measure of avoiding accidents and deaths.
• monitoring of all the bridges in terms of scientific measurements of deflections, water level and flow velocity
• advanced signaling system based on continuous track circuiting and cab signaling similar to European train control system Level-II
• Train accidents at unmanned level crossings have been relatively low in the last few years.

The Railways has set a zero-casualty target and it might be achieved by following the Kakodkar committee’s recommendations.
Apart from the committee’s recommendations, the railway sector is focusing on better administration, development of pending projects, modernization, technological innovation, promotion of research and development, increasing the railway links, fast delivery mechanism and better infrastructure.

Cyber security, Internet governance and India’s policy

Chanakya IAS Academy

Paper: III

Topic: Information technology, Cyber security, Internet governance, CERT-IN, NCIIPC.

Relevance and use of the article in UPSC prelims and mains examination:Dear aspirants this article is about The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).Only eight years after India passed the Information Technology Act, did the term cybersecurity appear in a statute through a series of amendments to the Act approved by the Indian Parliament. In 2008, the amendments recognised the need for a focussed approach to cybersecurity and divided it into two segments: Critical and Non Critical. Let's see in this article that what needed to be done.

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• Information Technology Act The amendment defined ‘Critical Information Infrastructure’ (CII) as “those facilities, systems or functions whose incapacity or destruction would cause a debilitating impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.” The law also added two sections – 70 (A) for all  ‘Critical’ systems and section 70 (B) for all non-critical sections and assigning the responsibility to two separate agencies – one new and one old.
• The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) was deemed to be created by a gazette notification with specific responsibilities for protecting all CII. The Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-IN) would be responsible for all non-critical systems, but would continue to be responsible for collecting reports on all cyber attacks / incidents. While the law was amended in 2008, it would take six years before NCIIPC was formally created through a Government of India gazette notification in January 2014.
• The NCIIPC started off with several sectors, but has now truncated them into five broad areas that cover the ‘critical sectors’. These are:

1. Power & Energy
2. Banking, Financial Institutions & Insurance
3. Information and Communication Technology
4. Transportation
5. E-governance and Strategic Public Enterprises

• While defence and intelligence agencies have also been included under the CII framework, these have been kept out of the purview of the NCIIPC’s charter. Instead, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been tasked with protecting these bodies.

Key issues:

• A key point that has been factored in while identifying CII is the inter-dependencies. Therefore, using this matrix, NCIIPC settled on the Power Sector as the most critical followed by the Energy Sector. However, these inter-dependencies are likely to change and could evolve into a more complex model at a later stage to decide the criticality of systems.
• However, NCIIPC has also been mindful of the fact that even though some systems are isolated, the accelerated developments of the IT sector and the advent of Internet of Things (IOT) will increase the complexity of protecting CII.

NCIIPC and its control:

• Over time, NCIIPC has been able to sharpen its charter to ensure better “coherence”across the government to respond to cyber threats against CII. This also means that it will provide the strategic leadership to the government’s efforts to “reduce vulnerabilities…against cyber terrorism, cyber warfare and other threats”.
• This also includes identification of all CII systems for “approval by the appropriate government for notifying them” as “protected systems”. This is a critical element in NCIIPC’s charter and helps it embrace the private sector and work with them.

The benefits of identifying CII

• Under its charter, NCIIPC has been working towards recognizing many of the Government of India’s systems as ‘protected systems’, which has several positive consequences.
• Under the current laws, any IT (Information Technology) or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that lie at the heart of the CII can only seek three years imprisonment for any cyber attack.
• This increases the quantum of punishment from three years imprisonment to life imprisonment.
• The agency has also started approaching various sectors to create guidelines that can set standards for private and public sector entities across the board.
• NCIIPC has also been instrumental in declaring two major entities as protected – systems of the Aadhar unique identification project and the Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system of the Ministry of Shipping.

Addressing the trust deficit

• It has been frequently noticed that any possible interface between the private sector and the government is usually fraught with risk. The government is essentially a regulator while the private sector seeks freedom to conduct business.
• Its approach is based on the principle that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. NCIIPC’s charter includes its role to “…coordinate, share, monitor, collect, analyse and forecast, national level threat to CII for policy guidance, expertise sharing and situational awareness for early warning or alerts”. However, it also maintains that “the basic responsibility for protecting CII system shall lie with the agency running that.

conclusion/suggestions:

• However, that ecosystem is incomplete unless there are adequate cybersecurity professionals available to partner with NCIIPC to cover the whole sector. This calls for forging partnerships between public and the private entities, leveraging each other’s strengths by avoiding the traditional regulatory approach.
• This has created a cooperative framework that has served the US well and continues to strengthen its CII’s cyber security. This ensures the merging of the strengths of the private and public to not only create standardised operating procedures, but also build an ecosystem that is sensitive to each other’s lacunae and strengths.

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https://internetdemocracy.in/reports/india-nciipc-saikat-datta-2016/

https://csaw.iitk.ac.in/policy_prompt.html

Midnight stroke: Rs.500, Rs.1000 notes withdrawn as legal tender

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Intro: In a move that has rattled the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday abolished Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes effective midnight. The move, aimed at tackling fake notes and the black money economy, is expected to have a huge impact on the economy, equivalent to a substantial withdrawal of money or a significant hike in the interest rates. He expressed confidence that the staff of banks and post offices will rise to the occasion to introduce the new order within the available time. The Indian government had done something similar in 1978 when it demonetized Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 notes.

Points to be noted:

1. Currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations will not be legal beginning November 9
2. New notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 would be released and circulated from November 10
3. ATMs will not work on November 9, and at some places on November 10 as well
4. People can deposit notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 in their banks from November 10 till December 30, 2016
5. Those unable to deposit Rs 1000, Rs 500 notes by December 30 for some reason, can change them till March 31, 2017 by furnishing ID proof
6. Currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 will be just paper with no value
7. Banks will remain closed on 9th November
8. All banks and post offices will remain shut tomorrow
9. Cashless fund transfer won't be affected by this
10. Respite for people for the initial 72 hours, Govt hospitals will accept old Rs 500 and 1000 notes till 11 November midnight
11. Some medical facilities will be exempted from this for the time being
12. Rs 20,000 weekly cap on exchange of Rs 500 & Rs 1,000 notes.

Why this decision taken:

• Fake currencies circulation have grown over the years.launching new currency notes with new designs from November 10. Introducing 200 rupee note with Mangalyan logo.
• It is a bold move. Counterfeit currencies are being used for financing terrorism. Our security measures have not been breached,. This is a powerful measure to combat terrorism. Govt. has taken many measures in last two years. This will go a long way. Fake currencies corrode economy
• Economy grew by 30 per cent between 2011 and 2016 and currency notes in circulation rose by 40 per cent. In contrast, the circulation of ₹500 currency notes grew by 76 per cent and ₹1,000 notes by 109 per cent. The RBI Governor said that despite the high number of fake currency, the security features of the currency have not been breached. “The RBI has ramped up production of the new series of notes,”.

Scrapping Rs.500, Rs.1000 notes a costly idea:

• large denomination notes are highly likely to be used for illegal activities and not so much as a medium of ordinary transaction, and elimination of such notes can go a long way in cutting the stocks of such funds (popularly known as black money in India).
• The reasons cited were similar—that such notes are too large to be used widely in day-to-day transactions, and instead end up serving the purposes of terrorists, tax evaders, money launderers and other criminals.
• what they fail to take into consideration is the cost of scrapping these high-value notes. According to data put out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the share of Rs.1,000 notes in the stock of currency in circulation at the end of financial year 2014-15 was a whopping 39%, with Rs.500 notes accounting for a further 45% of currency stock.
• cost of printing a Rs.10 note was Rs.0.96 (according to the data), or 9.6% of face value. The cost of printing a Rs.1,000 note (Rs.3.17), on the other hand, was only 0.32% of the face value.
• In other words, for a given amount of money, it costs the RBI 30% less to print it in the form of Rs.1,000 notes than in Rs.10 notes.

Whip for whom:

• This will disappoint those who hope that eliminating high-value notes would prompt awkward conversations between criminals and the authorities. There is political resistance too; some worry that abolishing high-value notes is a step on the road to abolishing paper money altogether. And, without coordinated withdrawal of all high-value notes, the move would be much less effective.”

Suggestions and conclusion:

• Given the current demand for high-denomination notes, it will be expensive to get rid of them. The effort should thus be to first curb the demand for these notes, and there is no better way than to encourage electronic payments and move towards a cashless economy.
• IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) has already seen significant traction in peer-to-peer transfers. With the proposed Universal Payments Interface (UPI) coming into force later this year , there will be further incentive to avoid the use of cash.
• Widespread use of cash comes at a significant cost to the economy—not only does it encourage greater use of unaccounted fund, there is also a significant cost borne by the RBI for printing, authenticating, maintaining and distributing currency. In this context, there is a strong case for RBI or the government to provide people monetary incentives in order to encourage the adoption of electronic payments.

Debating freedom of press and expression

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Paper: II

Topic: Indian polity, Constitution, Freedom of expression, Supreme court.

Relevance and use of the article in UPSC prelims and mains examination:Dear aspirants this article is about the recent decision of the central government to ban NDTV India has raised concerns regarding the rights of free press in India. Mostly, people are using the ‘freedom of speech & expression’ interchangeably with the rights of a free press. But are both one and the same?The constitution of India guarantees freedom of speech and expression to all its citizens under Article 19, which deals with protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.Let's go through the article and find out the viability of recent decision.

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Introduction:

• Clause (1) (a) of Article 19 states, “All citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.”However, the Indian news press enjoys the freedom to engage in the business of disseminating news to audience under the right to carry out any profession, occupation, trade, industry or business, guaranteed under Article 19(1) (g).
• Complications arise when Article 19(1) (a) and (g) are read to be one and the same and even the oversight and restrictions in the interest of the 'general public' contemplated under Article 19(6) are ignored because of this obfuscation.

Role of media:  

• Entities such as NDTV engaged in the business of news/media are a prime source of information, helping people to cultivate opinions on the political, economic and social situation in the country. The traditional print media still retains influence and television is widely popular, but public opinion, especially of the youth, can be gauged through social networking platforms and the so-called 'new media'.
• In this way, the media continues its role as a kind of non-formal educator, helping citizens to make judgments, often by presenting views which are contrary to those of the government.

Governments stand:

• This vaunted position occupied by the media, including surveying the judiciary, executive and legislature alike, does not come without implicit responsibilities. Hence, the restrictions on the business of news/media under Article 19(6), when deemed necessary to ensure an effective protection of the rights of common citizens under Article 19(1) (a).
• Though this is being cited as the first incident where the government has censored the media in the interest of national security, recent history is rife with examples of the government curtailing media freedom to protect the general public interest.
• Far from regulation of media by the government, at present, the Indian media industry is a largely self-regulated consortium. The informal nature of this self-regulatory mechanism only adds to the risk of an unregulated vital sector such as media falling prey to priorities and practices which could be contrary to public interest or as well be a threat to national security.

Media Regulation Bill: A much needed regulation

• The call of the hour is a composite code/piece of legislation in the media business space, one that will protect the freedom of press under such law but will also prevent media sector from impinging on the freedoms and rights of citizens of India and acting against public interest or national security in any manner.
• A draft bill on media regulation called the Maintenance Of Transparency and Code of Conduct and Prevention of Circulation, Publication or Broadcasting of Misleading Information by any Entity engaged in Circulation, Publication or Broadcasting of News. by this bill an attempt was made to strike a balance between self regulation and a statutory oversight wherever and whenever such self regulation fails to protect the interests of the citizens of India, public interest and national security.   
• While endorsing and encouraging self regulation in the media space compulsorily, the bill suggests the establishment of an authority governed by a board comprising a retired high court judge and two members, i.e. a joint secretary and an eminent person. Most important of all, the bill suggests that no serving editors be on the board.
• The bill provides the board with the power to take suo motu action as well as the power to impose a penalty for code of conduct violations as well as the violation of transparency disclosure norms, thus strengthening the existing self-regulatory mechanism.  

• It further suggests the establishment of an appellate authority headed by a retired supreme court judge, a former secretary in the government of India and another member, all of whom can be removed from their posts for specified reasons only after an enquiry by the SC.

Much needed freedom of press:

• The necessity of a free press to democracy is incontrovertible and enshrined in law and constitution in the India. The quality of that freedom, however, requires to be cautiously guarded so as to not infringe upon citizens rights, public interest or national security.
• Freedom has many components and is rarely absolute or paramount in a democracy, if only, because democracy may itself be thought of as a system for reconciling competing freedoms. The press wields a unique power of impacting public opinion and plays a vital role in democracy. This power, however, must be exercised in tandem with other democratic values. Chief amongst these is the stipulation that press freedom promotes, and operates within, the rule of law which itself is often described as the cornerstone of a democratic society.

Conclusion:

• In a modern democracy that abides by the rule of law, press freedom can never mean a press which sits outside, above and beyond, or in disregard of, the law. Respect for the law is the common framework within which the press, as an important commercial sector, is enabled to flourish, to preserve and enjoy its freedoms, and to make its unique contribution to a democratic society.
• The rule of law, in other words, seeks to also ‘guard the guardians’ and self regulation in the media space needs to ensure that media entities are mindful of their duty to be on the right side of the rule of law.

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Question:

“The necessity of a free press to democracy is incontrovertible and enshrined in law and constitution in the India. The quality of that freedom, however, requires to be cautiously guarded so as to not infringe upon citizens rights, public interest or national security.” Comment.

Suggested points:

1. Discuss about the current decision of government about banning a News channel.
2. Constitutional provisions about  freedom of speech and expression.
3. Differentiate between the constitutional provisions for press and common public.
4. Role of regulation rather than banning.
5. Media Regulation Bili and its importance with provisions.
6. Role of government, and media to form a good mind set of information for general pibic.
7. Suggestions and conclusion.

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Link:http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/ndtv-india-ban-its-not-about-just-national-security/article9316080.ece