UPSCTREE PRELIMS 2016 Analysis
Message:-
The deed is done and the fate is sealed.So, stop worrying about the cut-offs and start preparing for MAINS immediately.Try to use this period as a head start.
We have heard all the noises around cut-offs and our two cents to the issue would be – Anybody scoring in 3 figures has a fair chance.Here are the reasons, WHY ? :-
1)The veterans who were given extra 2 attempts back in 2013 are gone from the race.(Increase in age from 30 to 32 and increase in number of attempts from 4 to 6)
2)The 2011 aspirants who were given an extra attempt last year are not in the race either.
3)Yes, the number of vacancies have decreased but generally speaking the paper was on the tougher side as compared to last year so these two may cancel out each other.
4)Finally,there is no harm in studying for MAINS , even if you don’t qualify this year, you are already one year ahead of your competitors.
Static :-
1)Relegated to backyard
2)Can’t ignore either
3)May reappear in PRELIMS 2017
Conclusion – Finishing the static portion is just the first step, but an indispensible one.You can not afford to go to the exam without preparing for it nor you can afford to prepare exclusively for it.
Dynamic:-
1)Current Affairs (CA) day-in and day-out preparation is sine-qua-non
2)Widening the traditional coverage of CA ; for eg- Butterfly question or Kharai Camel or Movie or things related to daily life are important.
3)This portion became binary – either you know it or you don’t
4)CA of not only this year but also of last year is important
5)Importance of international organisation is on the rise and on a positive side we have tried to cover all the organisations in our MOCK tests.
Conclusion – It seems preparation starts from the grocery store itself.Always keep your eyes and ears open.There is no space for personal likings/disliking as far as CA coverage is concerned (For eg- you may not be a movie-buff but you should know what is happening around the world on the celluloid and same goes for olympics or state animals or anythings else).This is to say, if it was in the news, then it is in your syllabus and hence you should know it (Of course, we will be there to pick the relevant from the sea of irrelevant)
Overall :-
1)UPSC civil service prelims exams used to be on a different plane compared to other tests conducted by UPSC or any other mass recruiter/s, however this gulf is alarmingly diminishing.
2)The change in quality in the standard of question asked has forced a metamorphosis in the prelims syllabus.Hitherto, the usual items that an UPSC aspirant used to ignore or study at max once have become the first ones to be picked up by the UPSC.So let nothing pass around you without passing through you.
3)This PRELIMS has made the competitional aspect of the exam brutally clear.Certainly the gulf between the average score and higher scores indicate the same.
4)Moreover, UPSC has asked question from those few months (especially of September- December )when aspirants are busy preparing for MAINS.In short,it is increasingly becoming difficult to outsmart UPSC as it is focusing specifically on areas where you tend to defocus.
In conclusion,you can still clear prelims easily provided you are increasing the HARDWORK (day-in-day-out) quotient of your preparation vis-a-vis your SMARTWORK (Few weeks/months of work).Contrary to popular belief and relentless propaganda on various platforms , what UPSC demands is basic awareness on any topic rather than in-depth knowldge on it unless the topic is from a specific part of the syllabus (For eg- Environment).
Finally, we are glad that , our intuition to focus more on history, economy, envirnoment, and international organisations during our mock tests paid rich divedends to our aspirants and we are hopeful that more than 90% of our UPSCTREE saplings will get through 🙂 .
On a side note, we will be launching our PRELIMS 2017 program soon and the details will be with you in a few days time.
At this moment, we are planning on the MAINS and will roll out a questionnaire to understand your requirements so that we can be of real help.
The ESSAY initiative will continue as planned and based on popular demand a shorter version of the whole program will be launched soon.
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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.