Dear All,
We have been receiving queries related to out Test Series – Essay and Mains.
Here are the clarifications to your questions:-
ESSAY Test series :-
- Total 10 essay tests.
- Each essay test has 4 topics, that is we provide 40 topics in total.
- We ask students to write at least 2 out of 4, however if anyone wishes to write all the 40 topics, we review it all.
- The only difference between UPSC and us is that UPSC gives 8 topics and asks you to write 2. However, providing 8 topics in each test, which will amount to 80 topics is not a possibility is real-time. Also no student could write that many essays.
- Moreover, we take extra care in giving the topics, that means we have to read the PULSE of UPSC right (We managed to predict 6 out 8 essays in Mains 2016)
- It is difficult to to provide 80 topics unless we give just about everything found on internet.(as many do)
- But that is not our goal, our goal is to predict the topics that have highest chance in appearing in UPSC and thus making you aware of it.
- Once you write on those topics then you will not be caught- off guard in real exam.
- To give you an analogy, if coaching centers are traditional farmers, we are the precision farmers. Prediction with precision is our bread and butter and that is what we strive for.
- In addition to that we are also giving topic wise strategy for each essay (As far as our knowledge goes- Nobody in India does that as yet.It is one of the most difficult task- to create strategy, it takes at least 3-4 days- from initial draft to publication and we include at least 4-5 member s of our core team and take their inputs so that we can give you a wholesome perspective)
- We also provide 3-4 page of PERSONALIZED FEEDBACK . The standard and quality of review is unparalleled.
- Everyone who took our test series last year, had only praise for us.
- We have simple philosophy we follow- ” If we can not guide you, we will at least not misguide you” and we are approachable and deeply care for our students.
- It pains us when someone could not qualify for any reason and we help them where we can.
- Of course, we have certain limitation as far as human resource is concerned. As you know, getting good faculty is the most difficult part, moreover it is not about good faculty only, it is also about committed faculty. So, we have certain numbers in mind and when we hit that target, we have to close the registration – we can not accept your money and not serve you – that is against everything we stand for.
- Last year, for mains TEST SERIES, We endured last moment rush. Statistically, the number of papers reached us for review each day just hit the roof and we had to spend sleepless nights to give you the reviews. But we did it and now we are extremely confident that we will do much better this year.
- As per the request from students we had to post-pone our Mains tests till the declaration of Mains 2016 result.Now that the result is out, we will provide you a revised schedule of Mains test series.Only one test is live now. The revised test schedule will be with you soon.The reason for request is that they wanted to start afresh after the exam and there was a lesser momentum and more anxiety on the air – Now that things have settled, the test series can bring you back from your ” slumber” and keep you buoyant.
Feel free to write to us in case of any queries.
Thank You
UPSCTREE
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.