Testing untaught competencies,CSAT ROW

By not providing a level playing field to candidates from rural areas and those who have studied in a regional language, CSAT eliminates 70 per cent of them at the entry level itself

The storm in the country over the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) screening test known as CSAT (Civil Services Aptitude Test) seems to have attracted attention, not as much of the academics as of the common man. Civil services recruitment tests are increasingly being considered by many as public examinations that reflect little on the academic components of a discipline but rely on rote memory. That is why it is being said that an engineer who graduates from an IIT becomes an IAS officer with history or anthropology as his subject. These tests are not directed to examine the achievement (learning measure) of a candidate, but evaluate scholastic capability of the incumbent.

Civil services captured the imagination of the common Indian when the D.S. Kothari Committee recommended subtle changes to the method of examination — aimed at accommodating all sections of aspirants — from 1978. This was also a period that saw results of democratisation of education in the post-independence period as marginalised social groups entered mainstream public service.

Bureaucrats as facilitators

Economic reforms in 1991 created many opportunities, while shattering existing structures and values. This also impacted the way civil services functioned. Bureaucrats became facilitators to ease conditions for entry into once-restricted sectors. A new philosophy of New Public Management (NPM) was introduced in our system of governance even as it was discarded elsewhere.

Yet, some elite sections, which had no experience either of life in a rural area or the kind of deprivation suffered by people there, considered it a boon and an opportunity for the development of an emerging nation. They did not realise that governance is different from management and that it requires empathy and moral integrity.

Even as the debate over the relevance of the existing system of governance was on, the government appointed the Y.K. Alagh Committee in 2001 to review the existing pattern of the exams. The committee felt that a majority of candidates were opting for subjects based on “scorability” rather than specialisation. It recommended replacing optional subjects with three sets of compulsory papers.

It was the Alagh Committee which, for the first time, mooted the idea of a CSAT. However, the government did not accept its recommendations; in the meantime, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) recommended that “the Preliminary Examination consist of an objective type test having one or two papers on general studies including the Constitution of India, the Indian Legal system, Indian economy, Polity, history and culture. There should be no optional subjects.”

Confused with too many committees and different recommendations, the UPSC constituted another committee with S.K. Khanna, ex-chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), as its chairman, and with engineering and management professors and bureaucrats as its members. The committee recommended a CSAT format, which was discussed within the UPSC and a draft sent to the government for approval. It is well known that there was no unanimity in the committee. The present CSAT was notified. Having been part of the exams for three years now, it is due for review.

It is unfair to blame the UPSC singularly for the current state of affairs. Though it is an autonomous constitutional body, it is always the government which has the final say on issues of policy. It seems the government is looking into the matter and some reasonable order is expected soon. Candidates who have chosen regional languages allege that their prospects to become civil servants are weakened. Data from annual reports of UPSC show that there is some merit in their grievances as the number of candidates taking a regional language as an optional subject has come down; meanwhile, the number of successful engineering graduates has increased in the three-year (2010-13) period.

Elitist

There are experts who argue that it is not possible to test non-cognitive competencies and therefore testing based on analytical and problem solving skills needs to be retained. However, test scores are always considered as subjective judgments, more so in a pluralistic society like India, where the civil service is the dream career of many educated youngsters belonging to different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. Even SAT — conducted in the United States for college admissions — is considered biased in favour of whites.

CSAT and the Common Admission Test (CAT) belong to the same category. Aspirants seem to think of them being elitist and not enabling a level playing field to the majority (around 70 per cent) of them who come from rural backgrounds, with regional language as a medium and from the deprived sections. Thus, it can be argued that 70 per cent of the aspirants are eliminated at the entry level itself.

Further, our education system today is totally polarised. Students who come from the urban middle class are sent to elite schools where they are taught the prerequisites of reasoning, analytical skills, interpersonal skills, mental ability and all that is required for management and engineering education. The schools in rural areas and those which impart instruction in regional languages do not have the academic and financial resources to prepare students for tests like CSAT. Is it moral and honest to test students in subjects that were not taught when we need to qualify candidates not for a degree but for lifelong service?

Facilitation and food,WTO

India is receiving a lot of flak for its stance at the just-concluded meeting of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) General Council in Geneva with epithets such as “deal-breaker” being hurled at it. The country is being accused of sabotaging the first real agreement forged by the trade body in 19 years on trade facilitation with its rigid stance on the issue of food subsidy. An agreement on trade facilitation (TFA), which is aimed at easing customs rules and simplifying procedures, was reached at the 9th Ministerial Round in Bali in December last year after the developed world agreed to find a permanent solution to the contentious issue of stockpiling of food grains by the developing countries by 2017. The Bali Declaration also provided for a “peace clause” whereby countries such as India could continue with their food subsidy programmes until then. India, which supports the TFA, has questioned the current limit of “trade distorting” subsidy which is 10 per cent of the value of food grains output in a year with the base year for prices set at 1986-88. Its position is that the limit does not account for inflation and currency depreciation and the base year needs to be reset to a later period. This is a fair argument as it concerns the critical issue of food security for a country that is home to a quarter of the world’s hungry.

The passage of the Food Security Act means that the subsidy bill will bloat in the coming years and the country cannot afford to be constricted by limits that are based on flawed calculations. Politically speaking, no government can afford to be seen as compromising either the interests of the 270 million people who live below the poverty line or its farmers, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also obviously conscious that he will be facing elections in two crucial States in the next few months. The main grouse India has is that there has been little forward movement on discussing the issue since the Bali meeting even as much vigour has been exhibited in finalising the TFA. India’s statement at Genevaclearly highlights that despite repeated requests, discussions on public stockholding of food grains never started. The strategy to use the TFA as a lever to get an agreement on the food subsidy issue was probably born out of the assessment that it would be difficult to get the developed world back to the negotiating table once the TFA was signed. Clearly, both sides are guilty of brinkmanship. Yet, all is not lost. India has signalled that it is willing to return to the table and has suggested a permanent “peace clause” until a final understanding on subsidy is reached. Extending the TFA deadline by another six months will not cause harm, especially if it leads to a final agreement on all issues.

China quake: Toll rises to 381

The toll from the 6.5-magnitude devastating earthquake that jolted southwest China’s Yunnan province has now risen to over 380. The quake hit at 4:30 pm local time (1400 IST) on Sunday, at a depth of 12 kms with the epicenter in Longtoushan township, 23 kms southwest of the county seat of Ludian, Zhaotong City.

At least 381 people have been killed as of Monday morning, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The massive quake left a trail of destruction with more than 12,000 houses toppled and 30,000 damaged, it said. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is en route to the quake region to supervise disaster relief work, the news agency said.

Over 1,591 were injured in Ludian County and the quake has also left 60 dead and 193 injured in Qiaojia County. This is the second quake in about two years. In September 2012, a 5.7-magnitude quake caused more than 80 deaths and injured over 800 people.

In 1974, a 7.1-magnitude quake in the same place killed more than 1,400 people. Jiang Haikun, a research fellow with the CENC, said that aftershocks measuring 5 to 6 on the Richter scale are possible in the area, but he ruled out the possibility of stronger quakes in the epicentre.

“Yunnan is prone to moderate and strong quakes, and such quakes usually occur on similar scales. We will keep a close eye over the aftershocks,” Jiang said.

President Xi Jinping has ordered that authorities concerned give top priority to saving people’s lives, minimise casualties and guarantee a proper settlement for quake victims. He called for putting an all-out effort in relief operation and strengthening aftershock monitoring to prevent secondary disasters.

Premier Li also made instructions for disaster relief, urging local authorities to try every possible means to save the injured people and those buried in rubble. He asked local authorities to provide residents in quake zone with adequate food, clothes, clean drinking water, temporary shelters and timely medical treatment.

Local authorities have dispatched more than 7,000 rescuers to the quake zone, including troops, police officers, fire-fighters and government officials. They were joined by more than 2,500 troops sent by the Chengdu Military Area Command of the People’s Liberation Army, and 60 medical workers and 90 rescuers sent by authorities in the neighboring Sichuan Province.

In addition, the Yunnan Branch of China Eastern Airlines has brought relief work teams to Zhaotong. The civil affairs authorities said that 20,050 tents, 15,000 folding beds, 29,500 quilts and 25,000 coats have been sent to the area.

However, unfavorable weather conditions may hamper rescue and relief work, as it is raining hard in the quake zone. More rains are forecast in the coming week, according to the China Meteorological Administration

Narendra Modi Modi offers Nepal $1-billion loan in diplomacy push

Assuring Nepal that India does not want to interfere in its internal affairs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, first Indian Premier to visit Nepal in 17 years, said on Sunday their border should be a “bridge” and not a barrier even as he announced a $1-billion line of credit to this country.

As India makes efforts to deepen its diplomatic and economic engagement with the neighbours, Modi said he wanted to see Nepal become a developed nation and was ready to work with that country in all its efforts and offered a “HIT” mantra — highways, I-ways and transways — for its development.

Allaying fears of Indian interference in Nepal's affairs, Modi said, “Nepal is a sovereign nation. We have always believed it is not our job to interfere in what you do, but to support you in the path you decide to take.”

Modi, who arrived Kathmandu on a two-day visit, was addressing the Nepalese Constituent Assembly. It is only the second time that a foreign leader was addressing Parliament. Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl was the first to deliver a keynote speech in 1990.

Modi was given a thunderous applause as he began his 45-minute speech telecast live nationally with few sentences in Nepali language just hours after his talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala during which the two sides signed three agreements.

“I have come here with the goodwill and love from one and a quarter billion people of India,” Modi said in Nepali, which prompted members to thump their desks.

Stating that India's relations with Nepal is as old as the Himalayas and the Ganga, Modi said, “Border should be a bridge not a barrier between the two neighbours.”

“India has decided to provide Nepal with NRs 10,000 crore ($1 billion) as concessional Line Of Credit for various development purposes.”

“This amount is separate from the previous assistance that India has provided to Nepal,” Modi said.

Earlier, India had provided $250 million line of credit to Nepal through the Exim Bank of India.

The new grant will be utilised for infrastructure development and energy projects as per Nepal's priority, according to the Nepalese foreign ministry. Proposing a model development formula for Nepal, Modi said, "I want to HIT Nepal,” drawing wide applause from the lawmakers.

Elaborating his strategy, Modi said HIT in his lexicon implies — H for Highways, I for I-ways and T for transways. He said these three combined would pave the way for rapiddevelopment of the country and India wants to "give this gift at the earliest". Modi was earlier given a rousing welcome with his counterpart receiving him at the Tribhuvan International Airport, deviating from protocol for the purpose.

After their talks at Singha Durbar Secretariat, Modi and Koirala witnessed the signing of three agreements, including one regarding the amendment of terms of reference (TOR) for the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project on the Mahakali river.

Out of my mind: Colonial hangover

In the House of Lords, the benches on which the Peers sat in the old days were separated by a distance which had to be more than two swords’ length. This was to prevent members breaking out into a duel and hurting each other. There have been no duels for a while. Even in the House of Commons, disruption of business is unheard of.

In the new Parliament in India, in both Houses, the normal practice of unruly behaviour — rushing to the well, and confrontations near enough to fisticuffs — has resumed, leading to adjournments. Outside Parliament, retired MPs are refusing to vacate their allotted houses. Recently information came out that the governor of Gujarat spent 500 days away from her job, including 277 hours in air travel. She cannot be the only governor wasting public money.

India is proud of its democracy but it has to be said that its highest quality is the efficiency of the electoral process. Once the members are elected, the quality of performance of the elected legislators leaves a lot to be desired. Those who get to be in the ruling party/coalition behave worse. Their perks and privileges cost a lot.

It is time for the civil society to ask some tough questions. Why is it that India adopts British practices in their bad bits but not the best ones? Is it not time to compute the costs to the taxpayer of the behaviour of the politically privileged legislators and members of the Executive?

In Britain, MPs do not get free housing nor do they have many of the travel and medical perks which MPs and their families in India enjoy. No MPLADS either. What does an MP cost in terms of salary, expenses, market value of the likely rent on Lutyens properties? Is the sum around a thousand times the per capita income of India or more? Has anyone kept an audit of the horrendous costs of such fractious mischief that MPs indulge in?

India has a feudal attitude to its ruling class. The idea of a governor general/viceroy at the apex was to reproduce the British monarchy in the colonies. There were governors in each Presidency to reproduce the monarchical illusion. Independent India slavishly adopted this practice as part of its Constitution. So the entire panoply of feudal relations is still here.

The constitutional position of the President reflects that of the Crown in the UK. It is customary for the monarch to read the speech from the throne at the start of each Parliament. But I have already proposed in the UK that this is an anomalous practice. Why should the Queen read out the speech written by the PM? Why cannot she summon the PM to read his speech? Whatever the British do, why should India copy that practice? Let the Rashtrapati preside over the opening of Parliament, but let the Prime Minister tell the world what his government is going to do.

Unlike the UK, but like the US, India has a vice-president as wellwho presides over the Rajya Sabha. But what is the need for governors at all? Besides swearing  the new government in and opening the Assembly once a year and reading out the speech written by the Chief Minister, what is it that governors do which deserves such lavish treatment? Do we know what the entire set of governors costs the country and whether their conduct justifies the expense? Is it not time that these colonial hangovers were removed?

While we are thinking of reform, why not have a critical look at Parliament and its size? For an electorate of over 800 million voters soon reaching a billion, are 545 MPs enough? Should we not have at least one MP per million voters? The long running saga of women’s reservation can be swiftly brought to an end by adding 300 women’s seats. For the expanded Parliament, let us do away with occupancy of Lutyens bungalows. Let MPs live in rented flats. The sale of Lutyens bungalows will pay for the new building for Parliament. Let there be no well in it for MPs to rush into.

UPPCS PRELIMS- 2014 GENERAL STUDIES PAPER ANALYSIS

                                                              SAMVEG IAS

Dear Aspirants

UPPCS PRE- 2014 held  on 03-08-2014. SAMVEG IAS is  providing analysis of both papers and solution of general studies (paper I)

Analysis of GS Paper I

History	30 Questions(same Old pattern,factual,specialised)
Economics	30 Questions (current affair based and old data)
Geography	25 Questions(basic and Indian physical geo)
Current affairs	25 Questions(moderate and easy)
Science	25 Questions(easy)
Polity	15 Questions(easiest)
Total	150 Questions

Analysis of GS Paper II

English language	26 Questions(5 question from RC and 21 question from grammer, more tough for hindi medium (than upsc))
Basic numercy	24 Questions( easy)
Communication skill	19 Questions (appear biased, seems that some one framing question from some particular book, no question on decision making(in their view sdm is not required to take decision))
Hindi language	16 Questions
Analytical Reasoning	15 Questions
Total	100 Questions

PM encourages self-certification in place of affidavits and attestations to benefit the common man

• All Union Ministries and State Governments asked to make provision for self-certification and abolition of affidavits, not required by law • PM steps in to reform the public service delivery system, bridge governance deficit

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has sought minimum use of affidavits and shift to self-certification, so as to benefit the common man. In a citizen-friendly initiative, all Ministries and Departments of the Union Government, and all State Governments, have been asked to make provision for self-certification of documents in place of affidavits. The requirement of attestation by Gazetted Officer is also sought to be replaced by self-certification by the citizen. Under the self-certification method, the original documents are required to be produced at the final stage. The Prime Minister, during his meeting with all Union Secretaries on June 4th, 2014, had spoken of reforming the public service delivery system, and bridging the governance deficit. This measure is a start in that direction. It is expected to benefit the people immensely, as all affidavits not required by law shall eventually be done away with. In communications addressed to all Secretaries of the Union Government as well as the Chief Secretaries of States/Administrators of Union Territories, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has noted that “obtaining either an attested copy or affidavit not only costs money to the poor citizen but also involves wastage of time of the citizens as well as of the Government officials.” The Department has called for a review of the existing requirement of affidavits and attestation by Gazetted Officers, and replacement by self-certification.