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Wednesday 16 September 2015

17th September



Maan Ki Baat:

  1. Technology has changed the way democracy works - Social media, EVM's and Radio and Television.
  2. Now think about how this affects Indian democracy - For example "Maan ki Baat", while it provides a direct connection between people and their representative, it at the same time puts one man in focus which is not the ideal for parliamentary democracy.


 Single point feed:


  1. Srilanka, Kashmir , refugee crisis and their link to static is done already.
  2. India forming a SPV for investments to CLMV countries - We already started worying about our foreign investments.

Monday 14 September 2015

15th September

Sri Lanka plans a new statue :



  1. Improvement in internal conditions of SAARC nations will improve future prospects of SAARC - Same goes with Pakistan, Afghanistan and even India [Right wing communalism].

  2. UNHRC has the power to name and shame and recommend names to UNSC which inturn can take binding actions - Sri Lanka has realised this and has been trying to do a lot to get resolutions to its favor - So UN is not with out its use and clearly the absence of bipolarity can actually yield good results through UN - But remember UN is designed to take into account such bipolarity because league of nations failed because some of the major powers were not given their say in it. So before planning to write utopian answers, you must think as to what is possible and what is not.
BJP accused of Violating poll code:

  1. Help me out here - There is no model code of conduct yet for Bihar election even if there was it would have no effect on what central government does, does it?.
  2. In such case, can this be shown as a negative point for EC.
  3. Also EC does not have in its mandate to increase voter education, even though it does that work.
  4. Let's see what SC has to say about the Haryana law.


Single point feed:

  1. "Hindi Divas" and the effort to make Hindi official language at UN - Good point in social movement question related to language, regionalism, Federalism - Basically shows the unanswered questions of the exact nature of Indian national culture much like the secularism.
  2. Although Human rights has gained near universal acceptance it has not overcome concepts such as national security and power - Refugee crisis in Europe, Fishermen arrest and subsequent release as a gesture of good will.
  3. Young candidates will dominate the list - Changing profile of legislators indicating a young India - Think about the consequences such might have Ex: Some argue that Young will have better foreign relations since they are not bogged down by past experiences.



Sunday 13 September 2015

Mock questions based on strategy

1. The liberal root of individuality is slowly giving away to an ideology based on communal recognition which is the cause for the failure of multi Culturalism in Europe? Do you agree? Discuss.

2. Critically examine the statement that Marxism is more similar to Anarchism than socialism?

3. Examine the contemporary relevance of basic tenants of Marxism-Socialism?

4. What do you understand by Fabian and Scientific socialism?


14th september

Gujarat calls Hardik for talks:

  1. He wanted to protest using Dandi march - This signifies how political culture effects the political process in a country - Think about other political culture we inherited both from independence and pre-independence era.
  2. National Backward Class Commission is nowhere in the picture even though it has to decide on which community is backward/not.
  3. One might argue that they are not looking for backward class recognition but merely reservation - In that case this indicates - Even though market increased the avenues, they are still not considerable when compared to the needed and hence the fight for the scarce - Pre Independence Muslim Vs Hindu competition.
  4. Last year general election, everybody assumed a trend in electoral behavior towards development of India and not on caste, religious basis - Well, not long after we are seeing agitations such as these.
UNSC reforms:

  1. As far as UNSC reform goes - The only question is whether it should be "Club of privileged and powerful" or "Unified for Consensus".
  2. World right now runs in a national interest mode and not consensus - So entrenched parties might try and broaden the national interest to more countries which they think are aligned to them rather than giving away to consensus - An utopian ideal atleast for now.
  3. Also read about UN reforms - And when answering such questions, think about what the objective of the reform should be and you will be able to write answers which makes sense.
Single point feed:

  1. Killing of rape victims by the accused - I don't know how to link but we all should know it just for the sake of knowing it.
  2. Radical left - Open doors to refugees, Economic policy which favors distribution heavily and although cannot reject private property, will be not market friendly - The only problem with radial anything is unity - But remember these days difference between left and right is greatly reduced and perhaps a radical ideology such as these will both distinguish left and provide voters a real "other way".
  3. Different Islamic organizations have pledged their allaince to ISIS which gives it a sort of global image - A collective in security which can only be tackled by collective security.

Thursday 10 September 2015

11th september:


Indian diplomacy faces tough test: 


  1. The mere presence of Vienna convention, where diplomats are given absolute immunity points to the realist assumption of every state for itself. It shows the inability, albeit at the time of its formation, a lack of trust to solve cases through negotiations but rather escape each other by giving by immunity.
  2. Think about how this convention is applicable in 21st century where there is more Globalization than ever and there is a start in the growth of cosmopolitan culture.
  3. Finally, everyone's talks about how every nation just follows its national interest but forget how national interest of one nation can be intertwined with other nations or how two conflicting sets of national interests puts pressure on the country. Case in point.
Devil in the details:

  1. Sovereignty - Shared or unitary are not necessarily good or bad. It depends on where this sovereign power is drawn from i.e what gives it legitimacy.
  2. The increasing problem is that the increasing legitimacy is based on ethnic lines in Telangana, Nagaland or many other places.
  3. So if question asked in this area - We should not forget the important point that constitution should be the basis of whatever that happens and so long as it is within this ambit, we should be able to respect that.

Single point feed:


  1. The growth in racial violence - USA, South Africa, incident in India - All these can be attributed to the human rights concept in global concerns - This is quite different in that human rights movement is generally seen in a way of expanding those rights from countries with to countries without. But this flawed functioning of human rights rises questions as to the actual functioning of human rights in the established countries - Think more about it.
  2. Protests against Saudi embassy in India by AIDWA - Women movement knows no national boundary - Think about similar movement like that - Does it point towards a growing cosmopolitan culture? or it is minute when seen as to how many people actually endorse it?.
  3. Already more Afghan security forces have died than the entire coalition soldiers dead during the decade - This increased spurt of violence will hasten Afghanistan into solution one which might be tilted to the benefit of Taliban.So while Pak-China-Afghanistan are trying to broker a deal India must ensure that there is security in the Afghanistan - Even if this means providing military equipment.
  4. As already mentioned, the fight now is because of strategic bipolarity and not ideological.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

10th september



Australian Panel for more safeguards:

  1. Growing consciousness about nuclear weapons and technology in developed world - Japan, Germany and Australia.
  2. Although it did not emerge as a unified movement yet,this common solidarity can be termed as a new social movement as it is not based on class identities.
  3. Same time in global concerns environment - You can point out how environment is becoming an organized political force - Greens in Germany, Australia and not yer very successfully in England.
  4. Finally one important thing about nuclear weapons - The mere presence of them with us will never enable us to play a sort of moral leader to the third world because many nations have forgone nuclear weapons and no matter how good a reason you have to maintain them you will always be different from them - Please contemplate more here thinking about this leadership role in global economy and agriculture - Are we truly world leader or national interest propagator like every other country?
Make CAG accountable to parliament:

  1. In cases such as these when people propose drastic recommendation, like many others, I look if it is solving the basic problems of CAG. So if it is the change can be termed good and the answer can be written accordingly, if no then the opposite.
TN, Gujarat, Kerala Investors meet:

  1. Globalization and its effects - It has reduced licenses and given more freedom to state's to rise funds.
  2. Contributed to the unequal growth - As private investment look for better investment opportunities and not social growth.
  3. Most importantly, Like many other social movements in India globalization failure can be seen as part of failure of Indian government in the initial stages to achieve its social or economic growth, at least uniformly.

Single Point Feed:


  1. Photos on EVM's. to avoid confusion, use of andriod apps.
  2. Killing of journalists in countries such India, Bangladesh, Pakistan - Worse still the conviction rate is very low - Just good to remember and can be used in concepts related to rights, democracy.
  3. National Register of Census - Assam - Regionalism, Communalisation of politics - While everybody is thinking about world refugee crisis we are unaware of of our making of a crisis - These are general point and so keep thinking and go linking.


Strategy for Political Science Optional - Mains

                             

Hello all, Prelims are over and we all are thinking about our next big challenge [Mains]. The problem is that no matter how good knowledgeable we think we are or how good we feel we have written the paper there is always a certain level of uncertainty. This is especially true for optional subjects. So all we can do is keep preparing and in the path keep improving ourselves. For us online preparees, it is us each other and sites like IASbaba that will help us do that.

So having found very less for political science in the internet, I decided to share my strategy with you out there and hope to benefit from it.

The Actual Strategy:

Paper 1- Section A:

This here is mostly static portion and there are many recommended books as such for this. The most common and effective being


  1. OP Gauba - Introduction to political theory.
  2. Rajeev Bhargava - Political theory.
  3. VP Verma - Modern Indian political thought.
  4. Andrew Heywood - Political ideologies.
  5. IGNOU material on political thought.
I think the key to mastering this portion is understanding the basics very thoroughly and logically. That we can write dynamic answers. But we often doubt ourselves if we have reached that point. So i have followed a method to check myself

  1. To make sure I have understood different political thoughts properly I have gone through IGNOU material - Now these are written in a complicated way but when you have a good grasp on basics they make excellent reading - You can even start directly from them but just make sure to keep googling stuff and not get disappointed initially.
  2. For the other concepts such as rights, democracy, ideologies - These parts I think newspaper play a major role. Because we will only be able to connect the news to these concepts if we understood the basics correctly. This is why I am trying this http://nottatti.blogspot.in/  initiative. Helps me understand and also revise.
Paper 1 - Section B:

The classic book list goes like this

  1. DD Basu - Constitution.
  2. Laxmikanth - Indian Constitution.
  3. Oxford.Indian politics student edition 
  4. IGNOU.
  5. Bipin Chandra - Indian struggle for independence 
Now this part is pretty much static with dynamic links not so hard to find as most of the important news will some how be connected to these topics. Just make sure to go through all the topics in the syllabus and form some short notes in each one. For example recently there is a call for education body on lines of EC. So if after adding the static part, you can point out this as the awesomeness of EC or at the same time you can also point this out as the lack of faith in government structure to handle government and so the call for a independent body like EC.

So the key lies in spinning things to the benefit of answer. Just make sure you take a little extra time while reading newspaper. It will go a long way to add marks. Again, I am trying this http://nottatti.blogspot.in/  initiative to benefit through your help into doing this right.

Paper 2 - Section A:

The Classic list

  1. IGNOU for comparative politics.
  2. http://kkhsou.in/main/polscience/approaches_polscience.html - This is awesome and covers very good basics.
  3. Andrew Heywood - Global politics.
I know people suggest other books for international relations, But I am confident that Andrew Heywood will suffice, because it gives examples and explains in a lively and dynamic way. The book is big but goes like a novel. Also seeing the last year paper, I think the dynamic and historical knowledge is playing a bigger role which can only be achieved by contemplating on concepts and Heywood.

Paper 2 - Section B:

This part is as everybody knows is very dynamic. But first the book list

  1. David Malone - Does the elephant Dance.
  2. Rajeev Sikri - Indian foreign policy.
  3. IGNOU material.
Here too the key lies in picking the important words from the syllabus such as continuity, change, determinants and looking at everything in that perspective. "Akand Bharath" concept can be used as determinant in foreign policy - UNSC votes - Political rallies - Political leader's relations - Everything and anything can be used as long as you can link it to some contemporary news.


Final Note [Very important - Please read]:

I know that I have missed some important books, but I truly believe that if you can read the books that I have read [Everything mentioned except the highlighted ones], I believe you will get the static part right. So keep thinking about them when reading news and I am hopeful that we will gain the extra edge.

Also of you have seen I have mentioned IGNOU everywhere. That is because they are beautiful and offer wide sets of examples for every topic, not just the concepts but examples. These can be valuable while writing answers. So please go through them as if you are reading a novel, they wont take much time if you read like one or two topics per day. 

All the being said, I have to end this by saying that I have never yet written the exam yet and this year is going to be my first attempt. So please bear that in mind and this effort by me is more in the hope for seeing things more clearly by myself through your help than to help others [Not that I don't want that].

Thankyou IASbaba for giving this opportunity. 

Tuesday 8 September 2015

09th September

                                                                 
On Tibetian Anniversary China amplifies Marxist pitch:

  1. Marxism's basis is division between proletariat and bourgeois and the international unity of the proletariat.
  2. So China to still call itself a Marxist state is focusing on fusing religious and social values which might result in a new form of Marxism which will neither be universal nor be be based on class divisions.
  3. This can be seen as one the challenges faced by Marxism - As effects of Globalization and technology.
  4. For now legitimacy is based on economic growth and anti corruption drive.
  5. Please recall that Marx's final aim was a stateless society - So in such analysis no state is even close to Marx's wishes.

Single Point Feed:


  1. Nepali women as sex slaves - Just couple of days back we saw how lagarde emphasized the support of men necessary in empowering women. This is contrary to radical feminists who portray men as the problem [Hence the saying - "Men are the problem"] and events such as these just gave them more ammunition. But when writing views I think it is important that we consider the economic aspect of it and make sure to point out that everything is interlinked.
  2. Agents of Violence report - J&K - Issues of legitimacy discussed yesterday.
  3. Muslim clerics issue Fatwas against ISIS - Global concerns terrorism - Now while this might seem like a good step, which it is, we must consider that in these cases the legitimacy of state's actions are driven from religious leaders - Much like in the past - Even recently in Iraq when ISIS were marching ahead, a fatwa was given by top religious leader for shias to come together and fight. So think about religious legitimacy.
  4. Trends in Indian political system - The discourse surrounding communalism and secularism - Janata parivar, Kandhamal Case, RSS-BJP meet, Manipur clashes, Beef ban.
  5. Pope Francis - Acceptance of gays, help to homeless people and easier divorce - I cant think as to how to link this to syllabus - But very good points which should be remembered.

Monday 7 September 2015

8th September

                                                           

Machil encounrter case verdict: 


  1. We all know about centrality of state and its institutions in various concepts such as Human rights. This is what defines the rights in the disturbed areas visa vi normal areas. So it is important that state stay on right attitude and can be seen in this verdict.
  2. Retributive justice is linked to the legitimacy of state in certain areas - Ex: Srilanka and our own kashmir.



Single Point Feed:

  1. PAC needs more teeth and transparency - Implementing its recommendations and making the trails more transparent.
  2. "Isolating Pakistan in international forum on issues of terrorism" - Think about the efficacy - In case you need me to write a short article, I can definitely do that.
  3. MP board to be given transfer power - Seems like the idea to convert education boards into EC is gaining traction. This was only possible because of the effectiveness and the professionalism of EC - Linked to statutory institutions.
  4. From protests in England, Brazil to the recent protests by farmers in EU it is clear that developed societies are increasingly becoming prone to difficulties that only developing country are said to experience - Social movements in developed societies linked to low growth.

07th September

     
Failure of Syrian diplomacy - Despite the talks of american hegemony
  1. Despite talks of American hegemony, it is nowhere close to that and this is an example.
  2. While the ideological bipolarity has mostly ended there still remains strategic bipolarity.
  3. Theory that the intervention by other states is making it impossible for nations to form their own, organic history which will be acceptable to all its constituents.
Manipur clashes - "Us", "Them" and elusive peace:
  1. Regionalisation of politics - Ethnicity and communalism of politics.
  2. Globalisation and responses - As the article explains the fear of loss of land to private sector is one of the major drive.

Single point fee:
  1. Senior officer in WCD put on compulsory wait - While there seems no major link with the syllabus, this can be used cleverly when discussing the democracy or the executive structure of the country. You can think about how Civil service is getting linked to government rather than the state.
  2. More women workforce can boost growth - Keeping aside the obviously good fodder for writing, we have to think about this in a feminist ideological perspective. While feminist perspective critiques men of patriarchy and subjugation, they need men to change empower women - This is one of the major conundrum that women's movement is struck in.
  3. Refugee crisis - Huge impact on various topics such as national security, International organization, global concerns, future of EU, Concept of nationality as such because these people have left their nation for another and finally the classic ideal Vs realist debate as to the limit to allow people and when to stop and what to do in the future. Very dynamic, please take time and think.

Saturday 5 September 2015

06th September


The raising rage against policing universities:


  1. Social movements in India were always said to be weak due to the inherent divisions of our societies and thus all the marginalised fail to come together to fight for their justice. Here the Dalit Adivasi Bahujan Muslim students Association is a marked difference and can be seen as the growing conscious among the marginalised.
  2. Yet caste is the defining factor - Effects of caste on Indian politics. The question lies whether they can forge this unity into something systematic and longterm.
  3. Author mentions breaking away from left-right spectrum: But such clear demarcation is seldom present in India except in communist ruled states.
No tolerance of Intolerance:

  1. Here we can see the examples for the neo liberal state India is turning out to be - Reduced intervention in market but more conservative and curbs on public freedom.
  2. This gives a great example to write in the answer.
  3. Also can be categorised in globalisation and its responses, effects on developing countries and societies\

Single point feed:

  1. Concept of Akand Bharath can be used in determinents of Indian foreign policy, the efficacy of which you can dwell upon.
  2. India's foreign policy visa vi Pakistan : Somethings it needs to be done bilaterally and something, like terrorism, pressure is brought from countries such as USA, UAE and institutions such as UN.

Friday 4 September 2015

05th September- 2015

                                                               
RBI short of its contingency target -

  1. Can be used in the importance of global financial units such as BRICS contingency fund to tackle problems 
  2. Thus can be linked to globalization and its responses [Building contingency fund] by developing societies 
  3. You can also link these to collective security [Not UN based but BRICS based economic security].
High court on Indian Navy 

  1. Feminism - Fits into the equality Vs difference argument whereby equality approach of Indian women can be seen - But at the same time women reservation in parliament and CWC proposals, Police force shows the difference aspects - Think about it.
  2. Most of the famous women movements in the 20th century were linked to some other big movement and other struggles - Ex: Thebaga, Nav Nirman and Chipko - Move away seen in recent women movements towards clear women rights struggles. [Reseration]
  3. Think link to social equality  and freedom - This situation existed due to sexiest social bias that is present against women.
Maharashtra Curbs criticism:

  1. Centrality of state in all concepts such as the equality, justice, rights.
  2. Functioning of executive.
  3. Blot to participatory democracy.
  4. Limits of rights.
Direct Feed:

  1. Shobhaa Dee's plea - Envisaged role and working of legislature - Role of privileges played to uphold legislative sanctimony but are they used in best of interests - Are individual rights of people and collective privileges of legislature correctly balanced.
  2. Janata Parivar - Planning to keep communal forces at bay and establishing a socialist rule.
  3. Patidar and reservation editorial - Very good.
  4. Foreign companies cooperation during emergencies - Links to national security change, globalisation and transnational actors - It is important to introspect on the changing definitions of the various concepts.
  5. Refugee crisis and EU - Closely linked to the growth of EU from economic to more and more political - Along with greek crisis, handling of this by EU and europe in general can impact their growth considerably in future.

04th of September

                  
BJP - RSS coordination meet:


  1. Deliberative and Participatory democracy - Even while these aspects of democracy are said to be important for the growth of democracy, participation of certain non state actors can gain negative traction.
  2. This can also be included in the ideology and Social base of the BJP i.e. focus on national security.
  3. Also the pressure groups aspects of politics of representation in developing societies and their effect on growth of nation.

G-20 and Yuan Discussion:

  1. India, while stating that it is insulated, is willing to take active part in this devaluation discussion - Shows the active role India sees for itself in the world even while its interests are not explicitly effected.
  2. Also shows the changing definition of national security - Economic national security is intricately linked to global trends of economic decisions [Similar to Greek crisis, Oil price slump, Disturbances such as Ukraine or Iraq].
  3. Events such as these shows the power of China in the economic structure of the World and the responses till now seen from the perspective of developing Vs developed might not hold true in all aspects [Same as Climate change - But agriculture wise China is still on the developing side].
  4. Obvious link to globalisation, international economic system.

ISI - Afghanistan MOU dropped:

  1. It is important to note because of the link to SAARC's development and also the lack of India in a major part of South Asian cooperation [Conflict is a better word].

Fodder points [Mrunal sir is an inspiration for all of us bloggers]:

  1. Global Hindu Buddhist initiative on conflict avoidance and environment consciousness - Links to contemporary global concerns [Terrorism, environment]. Also from an ideological perspective of Buddhist traditions, Gandhism and can be used as an example for how to change people's attitude from consumption driven economy.
  2. India - UAE combat radicalisation - Same thing India trying to do with many central asian countries - Active role taken by India in combating not with military might but through cooperation with countries.
  3. 85000 crores worth of investments throug P-Notes from Caymen islands - Links to how the current globalised economic system is working - Lack of effective national strategies because of the perceived backlash from investors [Shows the lowering economic sovereignty of country].
  4. Keep a close of grand alliance and the future CWC meet - Their decisions can be used as points for Indian political system and how our party system is different.
  5. China flaunting its military might - This shows that despite the Optimism of all the liberals of globalisation and conflict reduction, military showcase does form a core policy of nations - Realists still hold an important place [Same with joint military exercises and of course the ever emerging new class of missiles.]