Dear Friends,
The logic behind MCQS is simple and below are ways it is going to help you.
If you have taken the MCQ and found that you could not score more- No need to worry – at this stage , the questions are framed to increase attention and remove assumption.
Lack of attention and Assumption usually leads to failure in Prelims. It is not that , one din’t know the answer , but is the fact that one din’t read the question properly.
Lets look at a prelims question of CSE(Prelims) 2015 –
The winds which blow between 30 degrees N and 60 degrees S latitudes throughout the year are known as westerlies.
2. The moist air masses that cause winter rains in North-Western region of India are part of westerlies.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
In the above question, most of the candidates din’t read the question or have not given the attention that it deserved, it is a twisting question. Many have interpreted the 60 degree S as 60 degree N and got it wrong.This happens all the time in the anxious hours of exam.
Due to this very reason , MCQS framed in such a way that it will increase your attention.
Another logic we are using is that – ” People usually remember their friends but they never forget their enemies“- That is just human emotion . Similarly , if you have committed wrong for a particular question after honest attempt – then , chances are that you will never forget the question/answer anymore. This way ,it simply helps to register more information without really trying for it.
If you look at our MCQS, we give few datas , lets see how they will be useful ?
This is a statement of our MCQS:- “In India around 68 percent of the country is prone to drought in varying degrees“ . Now if you remember this data , the chances of using it , is very high. For eg-
you can write 68% of India is drought prone and hence we should try for integration of rivers with minimal impact on the environment
or 68% of India being drought prone , many of our farmers endure abject poverty after crop failure and hence we should plan an insurance for drought affected,
or, 68% of India is drought affected , hence rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge methods should be promoted aggressively,
or , 68% of India being drought prone, many farmers stay as subsistence farmers and could not improve their lifestyle , hence skill promotion and alternative employment should be promoted in chronic drought prone areas as there is no benefit of doing agriculture in those region anyway.
or ,68% of India being drought prone – the ICAR should develop more drought resistant crops
And there are many more ways to use the particular data. Hence, contrary to popular belief , some informations are pious – they have to be remembered else the answer will look shallow, similarly , Not all informations are sacrosanct- many should be forgotten at the first sight.
Through MCQ we give those informations that are important and can be used – so if you do the MCQ – you will remember it with out trying to remember it – that is the beauty of MCQ.
This is already a long post and without continuing further on the philosophy of MCQ , we – request you to take the advantage of it, while you can.And don’t get embarrassed or let down when you don’t score more – remember – those questions were your enemies and you will never forget them 🙂
In real exam, this can go a long way in helping you to fight anxiety and stress of the moment and increasing attention.
Practice makes men/women Perfect and that is the only way to clear this exam.
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.