That time of the year is approaching. Most exciting time during the year.

May God bless everyone with sackful of books this year. Try to get away from screen for some time and immerse in the magical world of books.

If you want to take a brake of half a day from your preparation in ORN, you must visit the world book fair. Its the largest book fair in India with hundreds of stalls, thousands of people and millions of books. Its the Ganga of books.

I have been visiting almost every year for past 15 years now. It is a great fun. Keep your time aside and plan a visit. Delhi me agar ho to kuchh fayda ho.

Hope to see you there.

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This is my most favourite series of books called Very Short Introduction (VSI) published by Oxford. These are little knowledge enrichment capsules.

So far, Oxford has published over 600-700 titles on various topics. I have collected about 65-70 of them, mostly related to History. Today I added a few more titles after visiting the World Book Fair, Delhi.

Tomorrow (9th Feb) is the last day of the book fair. If you are in Delhi, take out some time and visit. Entry is free and it is open from 10AM to 9PM.

- Nikhil

#bookreview

Things are changing fast.

On one side, we are creating new age private universities like Ashoka, OP Jindal, Shiv Nadar, JIO, Azeem Premji and Krea. They are trying to offer world class education.

On the other side, IITs are also opening their foreign branches in Arabia and Africa.

Thirdly, this is another trend of India opening up to foreign universities (see the news image). So far, these are second and third tier universities which are entering India. I hope that soon enough some actually first grade universities from top 20 or top 50 too open up India branches.

All in all, this is a new avatar of globalization in higher education, much more profound than mere export of Indian students.

Nikhil

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2025/02/11/groups-support-needed-for-over-40000-civil-servants-identified-as-being-at-high-risk-for-mental-health-issues

Mental Health of IAS

Last year there was a major debate about mental health of civil service officers in India. Some voices from within the officers community also had opened up with some essays/articles.

At it turns out, this issue is not limited to India alone. This report is from Malaysia. The officers there are also struggling with mental health issues so much that it is recognized formally and officially.

In India there is some murmur but no official acceptance of it as a problem that needs some action.

Recently there were some initiatives at local level. In Pune Municipality, a contract was awarded to develop some App for helping the staff of the Municipality. However this merely is a beginning and with no proven efficacy.

Still, at the level of Class 1 officers this subject is still is not spoken out. There was a statement a few weeks ago by Economic Advisor that the young generation is facing major issues of stress and anxiety after Covid and as they enter the labour force with diminished capacity it will impact the GDP. He even had given estimated impact on GDP due to this. Even then, the topic of Class I officers in India suffering from mental health was not opened up. Somehow it is still treated as an individual problem of particular officers and not a situation needing some systemic intervention.

“The mental health of civil servants must be a government priority as it directly impacts public service performance" as the article quotes.

Nikhil

Two new books. Just arrived. World Book Fair doesn't mean you don't buy books outside it.

Let's hope they are good...:)

#bookreview

If you want to get personal guidance from Nangia sir, who has been one of the longest serving UPSC interview panelists (he served at Dholpur house for about 12-13 years), this is a good opportunity.

Call the institute to book your slot.

https://youtu.be/Nb-QIBLGW4M

Out of about 8 hours of wandering in the World Book Fair, these are about 9 mins of glimpses. This year, I bagged around 45 books. Some of them are directly useful for our preparation.

Credits: I was feeling very awkward with a camera and mic moving around. Camera in classroom ki aadat ho gayi hai Covid ke baad, lekin this is something of a new experience. Still our Ravi sir did manage to get this footage without a hint of awkwardness.

Nikhil

Understand the latest Iron Age debate. Was South India more advanced than North India during the prehistoric era? Or it is merely a political stance??

https://youtu.be/WL4llKeR8tU

For UPSC CSE 2025 Preliminary examination, we are starting our Free Daily Telegram MCQ Practice for History and Culture.

1. Find here the schedule for the next 11 weeks with theme-wise syllabus.
2. Every day, you will receive 5 MCQs for practice on our telegram channel.
3. At the end of the week, we will also release weekly compilations.

This is the Youtube video describing features of the initiative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ozw0eVOCeg

2025 is the third year of our initiative. For practicing earlier questions, press on #MCQ and #PYQ. You will be able to find the archive of more than 1700 questions and all PYQs here.

Telegram Channel Link: https://www.tg-me.com/nikhilhistoryculture

Nikhil

With this, humanity will enter a new stage. The age old struggle to cope with death and to conquer death.. through philosophies and pyramids, are nothing in front of it. This is the conquest of death. Society will change, emotions will change, even religions will have to change with this technology.

Humans are one step closer to become immortal with this. What will be the next step afterwards - to become Gods?

Nikhil.
#musing

1715.
#MCQ