UPSC Mains: No Propaganda, Only Evaluation...................Part I

UPSC MAINS 2014 is over - a week of strain. In this entire process of selecting the would-be-bureaucrats of the nation-state, we feel it pertinent to evaluate how Trademark fared in its journey - especially in justifying its Test Series and Classroom training programme.

This is the first part of the series. 



A. In our Test Series, we conducted 2 Tests on Essay - the first with the traditional one essay format & the second with 2-essay format. We had the hunch that UPSC may go for the 2-essay format. And since UPSC has mentioned 'multiple essays' in its syllabus, we expect in the near future, even 3-essays can be asked. Anything more than that may not be justified. 


B. On GS I 

1. To what extent has the urban planning and culture of the Indus Valley Civilization provided inputs to the present day urbanization? Discuss. 
   
   [Pls see: http://policyforindia.blogspot.in/2013/02/indus-valley-civilization-in-2013.html]
   
2. Gandhara sculpture owed as much to the Romans as to the Greeks. Explain.
   
   [Test Series: Q. 11 of GS I 2nd Test: "Draw a distinction between the Mathura & Gandhara school of sculpture."]
   
3. Examine critically the various facets of economic policies of the British in India from mid-eighteenth century till independence.
   
   [Standard Qs - Discussed in the Classroom]
   
4. In what ways did the naval mutiny prove to be the last nail in the coffin of British colonial aspirations in India?
   
   [Standard Qs - Discussed in the Classroom]
   
5. What were the major political, economic and social developments in the world which motivated the anti-colonial struggle in India?
   
   [Oblique Qs - Discussed in the Classroom]
   
6. What were the events that led to the Suez Crisis in 1956? How did it deal a final blow to Britain’s self-image as a world power?
   
   [We always stress on Norman Lowe - it pays to read that book !!]
   
7. The New Economic Policy – 1921 of Lenin had influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate.
   
   [Nice, Oblique Qs - Norman Lowe helps in elucidating NEP]
   
8. How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?
   
   [Test Series: Q6 of GS I Full Length - “The Muslim alienation has often been stigmatised in Indian historiography as communalism” Comment.  - We agree, that this qs does not exactly mimic the qs asked by UPSC - but at least veer the thought process to a similar analytic plane]
   
9. Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?
   
   [Test Series: Q16 of GS I 2nd Test: "Compare ‘El Nino’ with ‘La Nina’]
   
   So can we vouch for around 60 marks in Paper I ?
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