Dear All,
As you know by now, the MAINS 2016 result is out.
Last night was a sleepless night for us. We have been receiving many calls from our students and have been constantly in conversation with them. Although, we are yet to consolidate the results, nonetheless here are few findings which we managed to infer .
We have not encountered anything as scary as the “PDF file of Results”. It is indeed scary and enervating. We saw students shake and tremble while opening the file. It would be no overstatement to call it the “VAMPIRE PDF”.
It sets the whole course of action for a student for the upcoming days and has profound impact on life and social standing.
Of course, those who could not get through, they and only they know the pain. Because, the society is ruthless-People Judge and give unnecessary comments.Some show sympathy, but empathy is rare to be found, some would have been happy (secretly) because you did not get through.(Yes, the world is full of sadists- people deriving pleasure from others misery)
However, everyone has very limited yet few people in their lives, who believe in you “no-matter-what”. They stand by you, support you and accept you as you are. They are the shining lights in the time of darkness. Don’t loose them ever. Go, speak to them.
Our advise is not to be bogged down by society. Society is society, we can not change that, neither can we explain each and every individual and change their perception of this exam.People judge- and that is what people do.So let them be.
In this hour, we want you not to react, not to explain, not to find excuses. More or less, each individual will be aware where it went wrong, but wait for the marks. Till then, tighten your grip over everything. Your true self is in the test now, showing valor against adversity is what makes you brave. You are brave because, you are trying something bigger than yourself, you are not looking for a job, you are pursuing a dream and that is what civil service is. The battle ground is not everyone’s cup of tea nor it is bed of roses.
In this hour, we stand by you and this years battle we will fight alongside you.Remember :-
How the heck does a 52 yr old, over the hill, milkshake machine salesman, build a fast-food empire with 1600 restaurants in 50 states and 5 foreign countries with an annual revenue in the neighborhood of $700 Million a year and feeding 1% of the globe each day.
One word
PERSISTENCE
Nothing in this world can take the place of good-old persistence.
Talent won’t – there is nothing more common than unsuccessful men with talent
Genius won’t – Unrecognized genius is practically a cliche
Education won’t – The world is full of educated fools.
Persistence and determination alone are all powerful .
And as for the society, don’t give them the pleasure to play with your “failure”
Don’t make noise,
Work hard in silence Let success make the noise.
The above is the true story of McDonalds Food chain.
When each of us, tried to appear for civil service exam, it was a cause bigger than ourselves. But victory is something different altogether as Gandhi says:-
Full effort is full Victory
If you have given your 100%, you will be satisfied, but if you have not, then tighten your grip, the battle is not over yet until you WIN.
Civil servant aspirants can not afford to be sad, they are the bravest among the lot, and anybody who can withstand the downfall in this exam can withstand life. Civil service is not an exam it is a journey of life. No matter what the result says, you will be much stronger than you have ever been and you will be much better and more humane than you have ever been.
So don’t let your guards down. The battle just begun.
Start again start afresh. When the society thinks you are down-Stand up and fight again. Nothing scares the society more than a fighter who has taken a beat yet standing up to fight again. That’s the true spirit, it is not found in everyone but it is rare quality of every civil service aspirant. Fight until you win.
Speak to us, write to us, share with us, we are here for you and always will be. We may not be your guardian angels or pillar of strength but we can be your friends in need and we are your friends in need.
Lets fight this battle again, together. And yes,the last piece of wisdom – master your optional.
Thank You
UPSCTREE
Recent Posts
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.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.