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Your Guide to Clearing DU LLB Entrance 2018 without Coaching-3 -How to read the newspaper

How to read the newspaper. My favoured newspaper was The Hindu . It is advised that the candidates read the front page thoroughly. After this, it would make sense to read the paper in the following order - 1. Glance through the business page , focus on news related to Indian Economy and International        organiztaions, such as World Trade Organization etc. 2. Then read the International Page 3. The glance through the national pages , focussing on news related to constitution and polity. 4. On the editorial page , read the two editorials on the left hand side. If the Lead editorial looks relevant, read it. If not, just read the title and any highlighted portion. On the comment page or op-ed page, read any article that naturally interests you. If not, just read the title and move on. 5. Then glance through the sports pages . 6. News given on the City Specific page - E.g Delhi/Hyderabad/Lucknow etc, can be safely ignored as far the exam is concerned. What is most imp

China- The Great Leap Backwards

China's annual parliament is set to convene from the 5th of March. It is widely expected that this parliament will ratify a move announced on the 25th of February to do away with the limit of two consecutive five year terms in office for China's President. This, in essence, will pave the way for Xi Jinping to be President for as long as he wants. In fact, the term "President for life" is already being bandied about. The abolition of the term limit could be the worst thing to happen to China. Up till now, the Chinese Communist Party had slowly and surely built up a stable polity with a predictable line of succession. Smooth leadership transitions were the norm. Continuity in administration was ensured by grooming the heir apparent well in advance of the conclusion of the incumbent's term of office. Now, however, this well oiled machinery could creak to a halt with devastating consequences for China as well as for the entire neighbourhood. Why is this so? F

Your Guide to Clearing DU LLB Entrance -2018 Without Coaching-2 - The Challenges

Many students appearing in the DU LLB Entrance examination may be veterans at competitive examinations. Some students may have repeatedly given (and cleared) tough exams such as JEE, AIEEE, AIPMT, UPSC Civil Services Exams, State PSC exams, SSC CGL, Bank PO etc. However, it has been observed that a vast majority of the test takers are fresh graduates from commerce and arts streams, who may have never taken a national level competitive exam of this nature before. There are certain factors that set this exam apart from , say, a board examination of CBSE or the State Boards. Before we move to the challenges, it is to be noted that the exam is of 400 marks. There are 100 questions. A correct answer will fetch you 4 marks. An incorrect answer will cost you 1 mark. If you do not attempt a question, you will neither gain nor lose any marks.   Now, let us examine some challenges the exam throws up. Firstly, the exam is objective type. This means you either tick the correct an

Your Guide to Clearing DU LLB Entrance-2018 Without Coaching - 1

If you have decided to take the DU LLB Entrance Examination -2018, you may have doubts regarding preparation, strategy and so forth. In a series of posts, I will attempt to clear the haze. The entrance examination is likely to be held in June or July 2018. If the question paper is to be on the same lines as the 2017 pattern, then one can expect 100 mutiple choice questions on the following subjects : -English Language Comprehension -General Knowledge and Current Affairs -Reasoning and Analytical Abilities -Legal Awareness The examination is highly competitive because of the sheer number of candidates appearing in it. At the same time, the difficulty level is moderate. In my experience, a candidate can easily score very good marks and gain admission to the Faculty of Law with 3-4 months of dedicated preparation. Coaching is not required, but discipline is. If you find that attending coaching classes is the only way to bring discipline to your preparations, then by all means

Odour, Odour! This Is a Fish Market

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Justice Chandrachud, of the Supreme Court recently made the following remark in Court - "Let us not reduce the dialogue in this court to the level of fish market".  In doing so, he followed the example every single school teacher in India. Every school teacher has, at some point of time, compared his/her class to a fish market.  Unfortunately, Justice Chandrachud's remarks caught the attention of the fisherfolk community. They have now demanded an apology from him in open court. Thankfully, proceedings in classrooms are not made public. If that were the case, lots of sirs and madams would also have been called upon to explain themselves. A fish market is not unique in being a noisy place. Vegetable markets, fruit markets and even Sarojini Nagar are equally, if not more, noisy. Why then, are fish markets singled out by teachers and judges? It is indeed unfair. Next time fish markets get too noisy, will the fish sellers be justified in announcing ,"Kindly tal

Three Strikes and Not Out- Lt. Col. Achuthan Sahadeva Panicker (1924-2017)

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Lt. Panicker (from the personal collection of Lt.Col A.S.Panicker (Retd.)) Most men have one life. And one death. Lieutenant Colonel A.S. Panicker had three.   Strike 1 Achutan Sahadeva Panicker was given up for dead even before he opened his eyes for the first time. It was on Onam day, in 1924 that he was born in an Ezhava household near Kundara in Kollam, Travancore. He was the 8th of 9 children, born to Achutan Vaidyan and Parvathy Amma. The little baby was thought to be still born as he was not breathing. Just as his last rites were to be performed, he began to cry. A stunned family thanked their lucky stars that he cried out when he did. This was the dramatic way in which young Sahadevan entered this world.   Life begins Sahadevan attended his village school where he, like other children of his time, learnt to read and write first by drawing on mud and later on a slate. As he grew, he became a star football player. This love for football stayed with

Book Review : Bombay Fever

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Bombay Fever by Sidin Vadukut I t was with mixed expectations that I pre-ordered Sidin Vadukut's latest offering, Bombay Fever. I have read the Dork series authored by him and have also keenly followed his blog, Domain Maximus. His writings for Mint have been informative, insightful and entertaining. I was under the impression that Bombay Fever would be a tongue in cheek satire on India's public health system. It was not. Bombay Fever starts off at a fast pace, which is maintained throughout. The author's attention to detail does not slow down this pace. The book is essentially a story about a killer bug that manifests itself in the crowded megapolis of Mumbai and the ensuing epidemic. It also goes about showing the medical, scientific and administrative response to the disease. All this is portrayed in a very realistic manner and the plausibility of these events actually occurring is very real indeed. The reader actually feels the fear, despair and relief of the ch