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.
Infinitybeyondinfinity,
@Omen Sorry I didn’t mention that I am appearing for 2021 ( if it happens :p). Won’t it be too much to go for a test series at this time?
Test series or not is a personal choice depending upon level of preparation. However, if you have given one attempt I would strongly recommend to start giving them.
If you have a tangible target, of say writing a test on weekend, you would push yourself through the week. Moreover, once you jump to prelims preparation and more so post prelims when you re start with mains, these attempted test copies and marks would help you get over the inherent feeling of I haven't done much and other self doubting thoughts.
chamomile,Infinitybeyondinfinity
@DHARNA I really don't think there are much good videos available for UPSC mathematics. You can try practicing through PYQ and solve test series as after prelims time really seems very less to practice adequately.Reading and watching books again and again would not be very helpful as syllabus is huge and have to use the time accordingly. I would rather try to practice more questions as it is more efficient imo.I am posting one link which contains solutions of PYQ which I found really helpful.https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1n8JdifLpgEzbK1i2SZLTzL_ZtBF7jbf2
Regarding PYQs, MadeEasy publishes a book which contains solved PYQs sorted topicwise. Quite helpful. I cant seem to find the link of its pdf right now.
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?
Yeah. Jewish people were there first. By the laws of chairs and tv remotes, Jewish have more rights over that land.
LetsGetThisBread,@DHARNA I really don't think there are much good videos available for UPSC mathematics. You can try practicing through PYQ and solve test series as after prelims time really seems very less to practice adequately.Reading and watching books again and again would not be very helpful as syllabus is huge and have to use the time accordingly. I would rather try to practice more questions as it is more efficient imo.I am posting one link which contains solutions of PYQ which I found really helpful.https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1n8JdifLpgEzbK1i2SZLTzL_ZtBF7jbf2Regarding PYQs, MadeEasy publishes a book which contains solved PYQs sorted topicwise. Quite helpful. I cant seem to find the link of its pdf right now.
This is the sort of thing I needed but didn't know it existed. Thanks for the recommendation. Do update if you find the pdf.
chamomile,
why is it that diaspora comes to imbibe far right values. i dont know if there is any evidence for it , but from personal observation i have seem number of such instances like khalistan movement receives most support from sikh diaspora, and someone just pointed out role of jewish diaspora in propagating orthodoxy , there are also examples of Indian diaspora funding and supporting far right wing in India, similarly gulf diaspora is held responsible for islamic radicalisation among kerala youth.
One reason i believe is when you live in a strange country your identity gets sharpened , you become more conscious about your religion and culture compared to those living in native place. Further , as an immigrant you cant enjoy same kind of camaradarie, and feeling of community as you do in your native place and this creates a feeling of alienation and turns people towards religion :You can go to a temple or a mosque, and feel at home and be among your own people, albeit momentarily. Racism might also play a part in turning people inwards and towards religion.
what might be other possible reasons?
@DHARNA I really don't think there are much good videos available for UPSC mathematics. You can try practicing through PYQ and solve test series as after prelims time really seems very less to practice adequately.Reading and watching books again and again would not be very helpful as syllabus is huge and have to use the time accordingly. I would rather try to practice more questions as it is more efficient imo.I am posting one link which contains solutions of PYQ which I found really helpful.https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1n8JdifLpgEzbK1i2SZLTzL_ZtBF7jbf2Regarding PYQs, MadeEasy publishes a book which contains solved PYQs sorted topicwise. Quite helpful. I cant seem to find the link of its pdf right now.
This is the sort of thing I needed but didn't know it existed. Thanks for the recommendation. Do update if you find the pdf.
Last year when I found this book, it was already late. And I was like why I didnt get this earlier.
Paper 1
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1xEzR6GNnKk_nDPpTkeFJn0BjKRwVxKyq
Paper 2
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1a7xBEyq26-V98uOpnqkCiw88GmkYVc87
@DHARNA you can check the book here.
PS - I dont support piracy, but yet somehow become an active participant. 😛
Infinitybeyondinfinity,Celebornsince we are discussing israel can we also discuss whether usa should exit middle-east and reorient resources towards indo pacific? what are your opinions on that.is there also a case for usa to end aid to isarael?
PS: thnks everyone for the primer on israel palestine isssue.
why is it that diaspora comes to imbibe far right values. i dont know if there is any evidence for it , but from personal observation i have seem number of such instances like khalistan movement receives most support from sikh diaspora, and someone just pointed out role of jewish diaspora in propagating orthodoxy , there are also examples of Indian diaspora funding and supporting far right wing in India, similarly gulf diaspora is held responsible for islamic radicalisation among kerala youth.
One reason i believe is when you live in a strange country your identity gets sharpened , you become more conscious about your religion and culture compared to those living in native place. Further , as an immigrant you cant enjoy same kind of camaradarie, and feeling of community as you do in your native place and this creates a feeling of alienation and turns people towards religion :You can go to a temple or a mosque, and feel at home and be among your own people, albeit momentarily. Racism might also play a part in turning people inwards and towards religion.
what might be other possible reasons?
Shashi Tharoor explains this in his book From Midnight to Millennium I think. I'm not sure about the book, but it's pretty much the same points you said. It's due to a combination of nostalgia, alienation, nationalistic pride etc.@Dalinar I think your point is also valid, but from what I had seen it was the immigrants that were more inclined to the right wing, while their children who were born and/or brought up in the foreign country were far less likely to be right wing supporters.
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).
thesleepyhead,
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