Important update - UPSC

Dear All,
UPSC released notification for Civil Services Examination 2018. UPSC already released notification for Engineering services for 2018 (Preliminary exam is already over in January 2018).
I would like to highlight one useful and important information from these notifications:

As per the decision taken by the Govt for increasing the access of unemployed to job opportunities, the commission will publicly disclose the scores of the candidates (obtained in the Preliminary, Main Exam and Interview/Personality Test) through the public portals. The disclosure will be made in respect of only those candidates who will appear in the Interview/Personality Test for the ESE/CSE and are not finally recommended for the appointment. The information shared through this disclosure scheme about the non-recommended candidates may be used by other public and private recruitment agencies to appoint suitable candidates from the information made available in the public portal.
Candidates will be required to give their options at the time of Interview/Personality Test, while acknowledging the e-summon letter mailed to them for interview. A candidate may opt out of the scheme also and in that case his/her details will not be published by the commission.

Always in the service of students,
With best wishes,
BNSS Shankar,
M.Tech (IITK), MIE
FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates
You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests

 
 

Highlights of budget 2018-19

Highlights of Budget 2018-19

• Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley presents general Budget 2018-19 in Parliament.
• Budget guided by mission to strengthen agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, MSME and infrastructure sectors
• Government says, a series of structural reforms will propel India among the fastest growing economies of the world. Country firmly on course to achieve over 8 % growth as manufacturing, services and exports back on good growth path.
• MSP for all unannounced kharif crops will be one and half times of their production cost like majority of rabi crops: Institutional Farm Credit raised to 11 lakh crore in 2018-19 from 8.5 lakh crore in 2014-15.
• 22,000 rural haats to be developed and upgraded into Gramin Agricultural Markets to protect the interests of 86% small and marginal farmers. 
• “Operation Greens” launched to address price fluctuations in potato, tomato and onion for benefit of farmers and consumers.
• Two New Funds of Rs10,000 crore announced for Fisheries and Animal Husbandary sectors;   Re-structured National Bamboo Mission gets  Rs.1290 crore.
• Loans to Women Self Help Groups will increase to Rs.75,000 crore in 2019 from 42,500 crore last year.
• Higher targets for Ujjwala, Saubhagya and Swachh Mission to cater to  lower and middle class in providing free LPG connections, electricity and toilets.
• Outlay on health, education and social protection  will be 1.38 lakh crore. Tribal students to get Ekalavya Residential School in each tribal block by 2022. Welfare fund for SCs gets a boost.
• World’s largest Health Protection Scheme covering over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families launched with a family limit upto 5 lakh rupees for secondary and tertiary treatment.
• Fiscal Deficit pegged at 3.5 %, projected at 3.3 % for 2018-19.
  

• Rs. 5.97 lakh crore allocation for infrastructure
• Ten prominent sites to be developed as Iconic tourist destinations
• NITI Aayog to initiate a national programme on Artificial Intelligence(AI)
• Centres of excellence to be set up on robotics, AI, Internet of things etc
• Disinvestment crossed target of Rs 72,500 crore to reach Rs 1,00,000 crore
• Comprehensive Gold Policy on the anvil to develop yellow metal as an asset class

• 100 percent deduction proposed to companies registered as Farmer Producer Companies with an annual turnover upto Rs. 100 crore on profit derived from such activities, for five years from 2018-19. 
• Deduction of 30 percent on emoluments paid to new employees Under Section 80-JJAA to be relaxed to 150 days for footwear and leather industry, to create more employment. 
•  No adjustment in respect of transactions in immovable property where Circle Rate value does not exceed 5 percent of consideration. 
• Proposal to extend reduced rate of 25 percent currently available for companies with turnover of less than 50 crore (in Financial Year 2015-16), to companies reporting turnover up to Rs. 250 crore in Financial Year 2016-17,  to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises.
• Standard Deduction of Rs. 40,000 in place of present exemption for transport allowance and reimbursement of miscellaneous medical expenses. 2.5 crore salaried employees and pensioners to benefit.
• Relief to Senior Citizens  proposed:-

• Exemption of interest income on deposits with banks and post offices to be increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000.
• TDS  not required to be deducted under section 194A. Benefit also available for interest from all fixed deposit schemes and recurring deposit schemes.
• Hike in deduction limit for health insurance premium and/ or medical expenditure from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 under section 80D.
• Increase in deduction limit for medical expenditure for certain critical illness from Rs. 60,000 (in case of senior citizens) and from Rs. 80,000 (in case of very senior citizens) to Rs. 1 lakh for all senior citizens, under section 80DDB.
• Proposed to extend Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March, 2020. Current investment limit  proposed to be increased to Rs. 15 lakh from the existing limit of Rs. 7.5 lakh per senior citizen.

• More concessions for International Financial Services Centre (IFSC),  to promote trade in stock exchanges located in IFSC. 
• To control cash economy, payments exceeding Rs. 10,000  in  cash made by trusts and institutions to be disallowed and would be subject to tax. 
•  Tax on Long Term Capital Gains exceeding Rs. 1 lakh at the rate of 10 percent, without allowing any indexation benefit. However, all gains up to 31^st January, 2018 will be grandfathered.
•  Proposal to introduce tax on distributed income by equity oriented mutual funds at the rate of 10 percent.
• Proposal to increase cess on personal income tax and corporation tax to 4 percent from  present 3 percent.
•  Proposal to roll out E-assessment across the country to almost eliminate person to person contact leading to greater efficiency and transparency in direct tax collection.
•  Proposed changes in customs duty to promote creation of more jobs in the country  and also to incentivise domestic value addition and Make in India in sectors such as food processing, electronics, auto components, footwear and furniture.
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  Always in the service of students,
  With best wishes,
  BNSS Shankar,
  M.Tech (IITK), MIE
  FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates
  You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests
   

Happy Sankranthi

Dear All,

Dedicated to the Sun God, Makar Sankranti symbolizes ‘Uttarayan’ or the beginning of the northward journey of the Sun. Celebrated with different names all over the country, the festivals of Makar Sankranti and Pongal symbolize the happiness that comes with good harvest and is a celebration of a positive transformation in people’s lives.  Makar Sankranti Festival is also an occasion to revitalize our lives through prayers and reverence for rivers and all living beings. On this day lakhs of people take holy dip in the sacred rivers.

May these festivals usher in prosperity, tranquility and happiness in all of us.

Always in the service of students,

With best wishes,

BNSS Shankar,

M.Tech (IITK), MIE

FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates

You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests

National Youth day message

Dear All,
Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th of January in the year 1863 in the Pausha Krishna Saptami tithi. The Government of India had declared to observe the National Youth Day every year on the birthday of Swami Vivekananda on 12th of January.
Several reports are saying that India has rich human resources whose age group in between 25 to 40 years. I can say age before 25 years is like the foundation for a building, age between 25 - 40 years is like the way how we can construct our building. Life after 40 years depends on what you did and achieve in the age of 25 to 40 years with strong foundation so that you can lead peaceful life in that building.
I strongly believe and inspire from Swami Vivekananda, we can lead our life in better and best way by following disciplined life and we can do anything if we have strong commitment and strong belief in ourselves.
My dear students,
On this occasion, I would like to share one of my article (in my mother tongue language) "GOOD HABITS FOR BETTER FUTURE" with you.
Please go through it and try to follow them.


Click here to read my Article.

  “My hope of the future lies in the youths of character, intelligent, renouncing all for the service of others, and obedient – good to themselves and the country at large”. – Swami Vivekananda

 

Always in the service of students,

With best wishes,

BNSS Shankar,

M.Tech (IITK), MIE

FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates

You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests

IAS 2017 Papers

Dear All,
I uploaded Civil Services 2017 Mains papers (Engineering subjects only).
Click here to download.

Always in the service of students,

With best wishes,

BNSS Shankar,

M.Tech (IITK), MIE

FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates

You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests

All the best - ESE2018 Prelims

My dear Students,
All of you reached the most exciting time to realize your dreams and ambitions in your life.

Try to reach the venue at least one hour before the scheduled time and settle down. Go to exam hall with peace of mind. Be cool and don't get panic. Have a good and sound sleep tonight.
I wish you all the best to perform well in tomorrow's ESE 2018 - Preliminary examination.

Always in the service of students,

With best wishes,

BNSS Shankar,

M.Tech (IITK), MIE

FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates

You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests

TSTRANSCO 2017

Dear All,
The most awaiting TSTRANSCO - AE notification came finally on 28 Dec, 2017.
Click here download the notification.
Syllabus:  Electrical       Electronics         Civil
Some highlights:

• Last date for application is 16 Feb, 2018.
• Examination date is 11 March, 2018.
• Number of vacancies: Electrical - 250, Civil - 49 and Electronics - 31.

Important note to the candidates is that there is major change in the syllabus in comparing with TSTRANSCO 2015 notification:

Here is the quick summary:

1. Engineering Mathematics, Signals & systems, Electromagnetic Fields subjectsare added in the Technical portion. This is first time in TRANSCO exam. This is GATE syllabus.
2. In 2015, Switchgear equipment & Protection was a separate chapter. But in 2017, it is merged in Powersystems chapter. This is also as per GATE syllabus pattern.
3. In 2015, Utilization chapter was there. But is removed now
4. In 2015, Drives portion was there in PE subject. But only power electronics now. Drives portion is removed. This is also as per GATE syllabus pattern.
5. In 2015, Non - conventional energy: Solar, wind and Bio mass chapter was there. But this is removed. 

Overall, my conclusion is  TS TRANSCO 2017 AE syllabus is GATE syllabus. Whoever prepared for GATE exam, this AE notification is golden opportunity as this exam is scheduled in March.

Click here to download some practice tests especially prepared in TRANSCO pattern

Always in the service of students,

With best wishes,

BNSS Shankar,

M.Tech (IITK), MIE

FB group: Click here to follow my blog updates

You can download: PEQB      TYC      Practice Tests