Dear Aspirants,
First of all, we would like to thank you for your support through out.
Last year we had launched PRELIMS 2016 program ,albeit little late , yet the enrollment was beyond our expectation.We have got many positive results in PRELIMS this year and at the same time many good candidates could not get through.Since the past few days, we have been enduring mixed emotions – some sweet , some sore from our students.
Every time we read a thank you mail from you , it keeps us motivated to outdo ourselves and provide all the help we can.
Recently , many of you have asked the timeline for the PRELIMS 2017 launch.
In this regard we have thoroughly analyzed this years paper and here is our findings :-
- Current affairs were dominant.However , few current affairs were without logic or so to say -straight forward (The banana or butterfly or remnibi or inland port questions)
- However many questions can be solved by sheer application of logic.In PRELIMS 2017 program , we are planning to give the logic behind the answers/explanations , so that it may help you to eliminate the options.The logic for many questions for this PRELIMS 2016 can be found here- Click here
- It seems the cut-off has gone higher than predicted.If that is the case then PRELIMS became a 6 months preparation affair rather than the old 3 months preparation affair.Competition is getting tough and we have to put in extra efforts this time for sure, there is no other go.
- Many questions were asked from a certain time period when students usually do not read the daily current affairs (Months like -September, October etc- usually busy with MAINS preparation). This did cost dearly for some.
- Although current affairs probably going to dominate next year , yet one can not go to PRELIMS with out reading the static portion of the test.
- Many have committed “silly mistake” to the tune of 6-9 questions which did cost dearly.
- There is a parallel discussion going on in different forums with regards to the standards of questions asked.But that is a matter of another debate altogether.The motive for us should be on how to clear this qualifying exam and write mains.
After thoroughly analyzing the question paper and trend , and after getting few inputs from our old students, we are planning to do something better and more comprehensive this year.
The idea is to provide a safety net through rigorous practice so that one does not worry about the result after giving PRELIMS.That is the primary goal of our PRELIMS 2017 program.
One thing is pretty clear though, instead of 20 current affairs question per each set we will provide minimum of 30 questions from current affairs going forward and a complete paper only on current affairs, so that by the end of the program, we will ensure every details of current affairs is on your finger tips.
Before we decide the features of the test, we request you to give your valuable feedback , so that it will help us build a more inclusive and diversified PRELIMS 2017 program.
To save your time, we already framed few question, however you have the option to give in-detailed feedback.Your feedback is of immense value to us, hence , kindly don’t hesitate.
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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.