Civil Services Mains 2020 Results: In or Out ? Way ahead, gratitude and Pain
The Civils Mains result has been declared. This thread is for sharing your grief , joy , mixed feelings - absolutely anything and everything.
I’ve always found it very curious how people can learn from other people’s notes. I have tried and not been able to do it. Don’t the people who make the notes always do it with a larger context and broader picture in mind? How can one learn from these notes alone, without a broader picture?
True! Tried it 2-3 times but failed miserably. I think, if you want to ever refer to notes, have your own. Referring to others' notes is kinda same as referring to compilations etc. At least the latter are better presented, aligned and more so, understandable.
I’ve always found it very curious how people can learn from other people’s notes. I have tried and not been able to do it. Don’t the people who make the notes always do it with a larger context and broader picture in mind? How can one learn from these notes alone, without a broader picture?
If you've read all basic sources and have idea about pretty much whole of GS but don't have consolidated notes, then toppers notes can be useful. Instead of you going to compile it from 2-3 sources with current updates, you can pretty much rely on topper's notes and pretty much re-write them according to you.
Worthiness of this relies much on how the person is using it. Is it an alternate to standard sourced? No. Can these notes read for own revision? No. This brings down your effort for dream "consolidated notes" jiska idhar fomo ho rha sabko
In my view, Israel-Palestine issue is classic case of Samuel Huntington's 'Clash of Civilization'. Israel faces an existential crisis due to its neighbours. Historically also, Jews have been targeted mercilessly. Thus, it has to defend itself at all costs. Need to give befitting reply to Hamas terrorists.
But, I also do not support its annexation strategy. They have evicted local Palestinians and constructed Jewish settlements. This is in clear violation of international laws. Also, with its no holds barred bombing, several innocent citizens have lost their lives. There must be an end to violence.
In India, we also see two trend of #IndiawithIsrael and #IndiawithPalestine. While, some have approach of being more Arab than Arabs wrt Israel-Palestine, we should not forget that Israel has helped us time and time again, currently also helping in Covid-19. India's stand of two-state solution is pragmatic. We have also been able to successfully dehyphenate Israel-Palestine in our Foreign policy which is a good thing.
PS - I do love Israel and its fighting capability :)
I think this is the only way to ensure peace in that region. Palestinians want their homeland and Israel wants safety and assurance. Regarding feasibility, multiple circumstances must be there.Very well written.Two state solution might seem pragmatic but is it feasible and if yes then under what circumstances??
Regarding the comment, "being more Arab than Arabs", that was my PSIR optional talking. Thanks for pointing out.I do regret if anyone gets/got offended. :)
Buddhijeevi Parsad,I think Israel and Palestine is one issue, where I'll always struggle with to take sides. I largely disagree with people try to paint this as a religious issue, when the history of the conflict tells us that its a deeply political issue. Calling it a religious issue, would assume that the Arab League and other Muslim states support the cause of Palestine, but actually when there was time to realise the Palestinian state, Arab League along with the Western powers backed out. With the recent development, we further see the waning away of the smoke screen of championing the Palestinian cause which the Arab states used.
Apart from the immediate cause of the revolt (the land rights issues surrounding the Haram-e-Sharif area), we have to keep in mind why it has to be this way. Israeli politics comes into play here. Its such an electorally and politically divided country that no party ever commands a complete majority. Likud party of Netanyahu is barely holding it together right now in a complicated coalition. As a result a lot of vote bank politics and coalition politics comes into play. Now, Netanyahu to resolve this problem, has begun openly courting the far right extremists in Israel (which by the way are in minority, though increasing). Pandering to the orthodox right involves costs. They want complete exclusion of the Palestinians from East Jerusalem which Israel has come to occupy. This is why we keep reading about the forced Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas of Jerusalem. This also explains why in 2018, Israel passed the Basic Law, declaring itself as Jewish nation state. Contrary to popular belief Israel was not formed as Jewish nation. It continues to have substantial Arab population (excluding the Palestinians). It would be also be a mistake here to generalize the entire Israeli population as ethno-nationalist, the well off cities, especially Tel Aviv, do not identify with such goals at all.
Coming to Hamas, its origin is equally troublesome. Hamas which originally formed as a sister group of Egypt based terrorist organisation Muslim Brotherhood, was actually propelled to power by support of Mossad (Israel's intel). And yes though its dubbed a terrorist organization, which practically it is, it is also a democratically elected govt. Now why would Israel support Hamas? Well, at that time the Palestinian cause was led by PLO. PLO was a secular organization, which relied on largely peaceful means of negotiation. Israel made a cold politically calculated call, and it supported the Islamic fundamentalists as a way to divide support for the PLO and to delegitimize and discredit the the Palestinian Liberation Movement in general (by painting them as extremists). That short sighted political move is now costing Israel big time, now that Hamas is a full blown militant group.
So, is Israel to be blamed for the mess that its in? Yes and no. This can be seen as a parallel to US and Taliban in Afghanistan. US supported the Mujahedeens in Afghan for it was way to get rid of the Communist control of Afghan under the Soviet, this was in the backdrop of Cold War. They supplied weapons, trained them to fight the Soviets. What followed that was the Taliban grew out of control, and eventually led to 9/11. Its kind of a similar case here. To blame US for the formation of Taliban is true, but to consider the whole 9/11 as an inside affair is a conspiracy theory. Similar is the case with Israel, this protracted asymmetric warfare will continue to stretch as long as it serves a political purpose, be it for the Palestinians, or Israel.
This morning, I came across a comment on Reddit, where some guy quoted his political science teacher on this conflict. He said (paraphrased): "If you read up on this issue for an hour, you'll be convinced the Israeli's are right. If you read for 10 hours, you'll be convinced the Palestinians are right. And if you read anymore, you won't be sure about who is right." This is the best way to put how deeply complex this issue is. If its painted as a yes or no, or simple religion against religion answer then, most often than not, we have chosen which side to defend (not saying that it is bad).
Hello everyone, first attempter here seeking some guidance.
For Mains GS, would it be a good idea to do Mains365 (2020) right now and make its concise notes? At present I have Mains notes for some subjects not all. I was suggested the following as good content for Mains - QEP (IASHub), Mains365/Vision Monthly, and Test Series (Vision).
What would be the best option (please let me know if some other would be better at my stage)? I do not want to give too much time to Mains right now as Prelims prep is incomplete.
Any suggestions/advice would be really helpful. Thank you! :)
I think Israel and Palestine is one issue, where I'll always struggle with to take sides. I largely disagree with people try to paint this as a religious issue, when the history of the conflict tells us that its a deeply political issue. Calling it a religious issue, would assume that the Arab League and other Muslim states support the cause of Palestine, but actually when there was time to realise the Palestinian state, Arab League along with the Western powers backed out. With the recent development, we further see the waning away of the smoke screen of championing the Palestinian cause which the Arab states used.
Apart from the immediate cause of the revolt (the land rights issues surrounding the Haram-e-Sharif area), we have to keep in mind why it has to be this way. Israeli politics comes into play here. Its such an electorally and politically divided country that no party ever commands a complete majority. Likud party of Netanyahu is barely holding it together right now in a complicated coalition. As a result a lot of vote bank politics and coalition politics comes into play. Now, Netanyahu to resolve this problem, has begun openly courting the far right extremists in Israel (which by the way are in minority, though increasing). Pandering to the orthodox right involves costs. They want complete exclusion of the Palestinians from East Jerusalem which Israel has come to occupy. This is why we keep reading about the forced Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas of Jerusalem. This also explains why in 2018, Israel passed the Basic Law, declaring itself as Jewish nation state. Contrary to popular belief Israel was not formed as Jewish nation. It continues to have substantial Arab population (excluding the Palestinians). It would be also be a mistake here to generalize the entire Israeli population as ethno-nationalist, the well off cities, especially Tel Aviv, do not identify with such goals at all.
Coming to Hamas, its origin is equally troublesome. Hamas which originally formed as a sister group of Egypt based terrorist organisation Muslim Brotherhood, was actually propelled to power by support of Mossad (Israel's intel). And yes though its dubbed a terrorist organization, which practically it is, it is also a democratically elected govt. Now why would Israel support Hamas? Well, at that time the Palestinian cause was led by PLO. PLO was a secular organization, which relied on largely peaceful means of negotiation. Israel made a cold politically calculated call, and it supported the Islamic fundamentalists as a way to divide support for the PLO and to delegitimize and discredit the the Palestinian Liberation Movement in general (by painting them as extremists). That short sighted political move is now costing Israel big time, now that Hamas is a full blown militant group.
So, is Israel to be blamed for the mess that its in? Yes and no. This can be seen as a parallel to US and Taliban in Afghanistan. US supported the Mujahedeens in Afghan for it was way to get rid of the Communist control of Afghan under the Soviet, this was in the backdrop of Cold War. They supplied weapons, trained them to fight the Soviets. What followed that was the Taliban grew out of control, and eventually led to 9/11. Its kind of a similar case here. To blame US for the formation of Taliban is true, but to consider the whole 9/11 as an inside affair is a conspiracy theory. Similar is the case with Israel, this protracted asymmetric warfare will continue to stretch as long as it serves a political purpose, be it for the Palestinians, or Israel.
This morning, I came across a comment on Reddit, where some guy quoted his political science teacher on this conflict. He said (paraphrased): "If you read up on this issue for an hour, you'll be convinced the Israeli's are right. If you read for 10 hours, you'll be convinced the Palestinians are right. And if you read anymore, you won't be sure about who is right." This is the best way to put how deeply complex this issue is. If its painted as a yes or no, or simple religion against religion answer then, most often than not, we have chosen which side to defend (not saying that it is bad).
Thank you for writing such a good summary. :)
The religious conflict and/or political conflict dichotomy is very complex to say the least. It obviously serves some interests of both sides to paint it as a religious conflict.
What do you guys think about the fact that in the West, especially in the US, any attempt by a public figure to take a pro-Palestine stand or criticize the Israeli government (political) is immediately painted as anti-Semitic (religious)?
Now obviously if it were in in Germany, for example, the matter is justifiably sensitive and such a conclusion might even be fair - given the rise of neo Nazis, it is understandable for the Jewish community to be wary.
But otherwise in most cases, it looks like a political opinion is deliberately forced into religious garb, because anti-Semitism is an allegation that can scare anyone into dropping the stance. Often the outrage is louder from the Jewish diaspora than it is from Israel itself. So it looks like the threat of branding as an anti-Semite is being utilized effectively to serve the political purpose of suppressing support for Palestine.
Does anyone have a different view on this?
BD,whatonly
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