Thursday, 24 May 2012

TACKLING GENERAL STUDIES...

Being given equal weightage to general studies in mains, as is with optional's, it is crucial to pay adequate attention to it, though even after investing much time, effort and energy, the surety of return is very minimal,(this teaching i learned this year)...but we have to tackle it...

following is the suggestive list for general studies reference, though there is no comprehensive or exhaustive list which can give you confidence to solve whole 600 marks paper...
  1. HISTORY-  
    • ANCIENT-NCERT'S BOOK (preferably older version)
    • MEDIEVAL-NCERT'S BOOK 
    • MODERN- Spectrum's history, or TMH's GS manual's india's freedom struggle's section. if have time, then it is advised to go through Bipin Chandra's india's struggle for independence . it will help to get a overall picture of that phase.(chapterisation of book is very good). or IGNOU's modern india (6 booklets). 
  1. GEOGRAPHY-
    • Physical geography- NCERT
    • Indian geography-    NCERT
    • People and economy-NCERT
  1. ART AND CULTURE- 
    • WIZARD'S or SPECTRUM's art and culture.
  1. POLITY-
    • INDIAN POLITY by LAXMIKANT (TMH)...this is sufficient.
  1. ECONOMICS-
    • DUTT AND SUNDARAM - indian economy (reading whole book is advisable), if in shortage of time, can go through last 2 units.
    • basic economics books of NCERT. (micro, macro, indian eco. devp.)
    • economic and buisness section of newspaper.
    • ECONOMIC SURVEY, (SELECTED CHAPTER'S)
  1. SC. AND TECH.- basic NCERT  for concepts and current by newspaper and magazines.
  2. INDIA YEAR BOOK (i&b ministry)
  3. YOJANA
  4. C.S. CHRONICLE or GHATNA-CHAKRA(for  hindi medium)
  5. websites of various GoI ministries.(MoEF,MoF,DoST,PC)
  6. pib.nic.in (home page, backgrounders and features) PIB
  7. IDSA   for IR and strategic issues
  8. EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
  9. STATISTICS- SPECTRUM'S
  10. Economic and political weekly (imp. if managable)
  11. newspaper- THE HINDU/INDIAN EXPRESS (any 1 is must).(complete coverage of all sections)

.....So keep eyes and ears and mind open and vroooom......


GETTING STARTED....

As i am ready to write my last mains, i think i can share my experience on how to start preparation for "MOTHER OF ALL EXAMS".... "civil services exam" conducted by UPSC

the preparation is a continuous journey and is part of your learning process which is going to continue throughout your life, atleast during your career life... because as a civil servant we have to study,learn and re-learn throughout our service period.... so acquire an inquisitive approach towards worldly happenings, an interest in surroundings...if anybody of you have watched "THE LAST SAMURAI", u can learn from those words of katsumoto which says that a samurai must scan the surroundings and should have insight on next moves of opponenets... it is best depiction of real life situation of UPSC aspirants...scan the surroundings by making  newspaper reading as internal to yourself and as part n parcel of routine...learn to respect differences of opinion and acceptance of contradictions...here are some points which can prove handy to beginners:-
  1. decide your optionals after these checks-
    • availability of study material in the language, with which you are opting.
    •  interest of yours in discipline
    • analyse last 3-4 yrs mains paper to check your easiness.
    • if it has linkages with subjects studied in graduation.
    • availability of guidance in your place of preparation in subjects concerned.
    • don't decide subject only because your senior or relative qualified using that combo., we are special so it is we who can best take decision.
  2. once decided don't rush to buy all sorts of material, books and notes but prepare a plan according to topics and in consultation to any able guide or selected student with that optional.
  3. prepare your own notes by using all resources in short and in easy language.
  4. use some acronyms and abbreviations to remember key points of issues.
  5. develop your own opinions and views on various topics like poverty, corruption, unemployment, and how to tackle them.
  6. try to connect current happenings round-the-globe with related subject, disciplines like pub. adm., sociology, geography, pol. sc., have many topics related to current events.
  7. devise such a routine that you are able to follow, make sure that daily study is crucial in this exam, so strict discipline is must.
  8. take care of your health and diet, have good sleep and have "FAITH IN YOURSELF"...SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW YOUR FOOTSTEPS.......

Thursday, 17 May 2012

my interview...this year...


28 MARCH 2012

It was a good experience with all my colleagues being good and pleasant, after completing formalities, interviews started, and i was 4th to be called for, and then seated outside on chair, an attendent named Devendra was there and we chatted about U.P., baba vishwanath and board's temperament...i asked several times to himthat plz see whether board has called me, but as an experienced man he always said, relax sir , i will tell you...then finally i was called and i just entered, exchanged pleasantries and sat down when asked to do so...then what has transcribed inside is below-- 
CM-
Q-what is nsso, what does it do?
A-Sir, nsso is national sample survey office under mospi. It performs variety of statistical surveys like ASI for assessing contribution of manufacturing sector, AS for estimates of food production,  price surveys like cpi, wpi and rpc. also annual surveys for measuring variety of s-e indicators like poverty , unemployment, unemployment.
Q-Have u watched the advt.?
A-Yes sir, it is by mr. ALOKNATH.
Q-What does it say?
A-Sir, it asks public to cooperate when survey personnel visit for collecting information on S-E indicators.
Q-What is Asst.S.O.?
A-Sir, assistant  superintending Officer.
Q-You have hobby of watching documentaries? which is the last 1 u watched?
A-Sir I have watched SRILANKA’S KILLING FIELDS- WARCRIMES UNPUNISHED.
Q-What is it about?
A-Sir it is about gross HR violation and sexual abuse by SL army and killing unarmed tamilians.
Q-India has voted against SL in UN, while china and pak have voted in favour of SL, also SL is our close neighbour  .isn’t it against our national interest?
A-Sir, india has voted against after having documentary proof and investigation by UNHRC and LLRC of sl which showed such violations. china and pak have voted as per their foreign policy and economic concerns. India,s FP has been always guided by HR protection and adhering for peaceful solutions under UN.
Q-Was there any other reason?
A-Sir, to some extent   there was pressure by political parties from tamil nadu who raised concerns on HR VIOLATIONS and killing of unarmed tamilian people but mainly it was our FP guiding us.
Q-Which UN agency proposed the resolution/
A-Sir, it was proposed by UNHRC , united nations human rights commission.

Q-Tell me 1 point which india proposed in it?
A-Sir, india added that it should be SL which should be entrusted with responsibility to implement rec.  Of  LLRC. And no external intervention should be there.
Q-Anurag  ,UPSC and ARC  are of opinion to recruit civil servants after 10+2 like on patterns of NDA, wher we will train them for say 3 or 5 yrs and then appoint them? What is ur opinion?
A-Sir, I think it is good initiative and I support it but prior to its introduction  adequate time say 2-3 yrs should be given prior to its intro. Because aspirants wait for their attempts so proper roadmap should be there for its introduction .secondly there shd be provision for lateral entry in mid-level posts like nandan nilekani.
Q-Won’t it lead to regimentalisation of services as they will be studying only adm. And  will become narrow in outlook?
A-Sir, in their training they will be studying variety of disciplines like pub adm, mgmt., law, psychology, statistics and indian society and culture so their horizon of thoughts will widen .secondly as part of their field attachment in districts they will have to coordinate diff .line depts.. so their idiosyncracies will be rubbed off.
Q-Ok ,tell me 2 positives and 2 drawbacks of this change?
A-Sir, on +ve it will lead to induction of better candidates as their personalities will be judged in thorough  way and non-serious candidates can be removed by directors of academy in the  process, secondly it will lead to specialization of civil servants.       Drawbacks will be that aspirants from rural areas like me,  will be at loss as they only think of career options only after graduation so proper  attention should be paid to this aspect. secondly if any candidate is declared as non-serious in mid of training , he should be allowed to complete his tenure and at the end he shd be given a degree , because he had not taken any professional course like medical or engineering  and his 2  crucials yrs would be wasted in such process.
Q-Let it , if you are PM  and you have to take decision on this proposal. What will u do?
A-Sir, I will consult personnel ministry and UPSC,  then decide accordingly.
Q-You have studied from CSJMU? WHAT is it?
A-Sir, it is chatrapati shahuji  maharaj university.
Q-Who was he?
A-Sir, he was ruler of Kolhapur in maharastra and he had done lot for educational development of marginalized sections and backward castes .
Q-How did he came in UP?
A-SIR, the previous govt. in UP recognized his contribution to educational field and renamed KANPUR  UNIVERSITY  as such.
Advisor-1
Q-Anurag , you said that it was domestic compulsion which forced us to vote against SL?
A-No sir, I said that it was 1 of the secondary reason, primary was our concerns for HR violation.
Q-Is there any relation between CSJM and SHIVAJI?
A-Sir,  though I have read about them in history but I don’t know about their relation except  that shivaji was in KONKAN area  and  CSJM in Kolhapur which falls in MARATHWADA.
Q-you must be knowing that we have categorization of services like grp A,B…? what IS ur service about.
A-Sir, mine is grp B (non-gaztted) and it is recruited by SSC.
Q-You were house captain in school. what was your  work?
A-Sir, we have to motivate our colleagues and juniors to  participate in extra-curricular activities and prepare them for competitions. Also  when I lead the school team then coordinated  with team for best performance.
Q-Do you faced any  problems in it?
A-Sir, sometimes we had hard times to convince the parents of the participants  to allow their wards to participate as they felt that it may affect their academics , also motivating juniors for competitions was hard but we convinced them.
Q-What type of competitions were held?
A-Sir, debate, extempore,   quiz  and sports activities.
Q-Any   more?
A-Sir, story- telling  , recitation, drawing.
Q-At a scale of 10, how you rate ur performance of captain?
A-Sir, the fact that the yr I was house captain , it was elected as cock house ie. Winner house speaks about my performance.
Q-Do you know about OCUPPY WALLSTREET MOVEMENT? Tell.
A-Sir, it was movement started from zukotti park in NY,it was against 1% rich and powerful  and 99%  public and about  increasing inequality in US  and  it was against bankers, and crony capitalist policies of govt. in which large bailout packages were given to banks from tax-payers money and banks were deciding policies of govt. it also spread to European nations as a protest.
Q-So U say it was movement not against   capitalism but crony- capitalism?
A-Yes sir, it was against those policies in which states collude with capitalists and banks and frame policies conducive to them while appearing that it is for benefit of general public.
Q-You have hobby of reading newspaper. how is it?
A-Sir, I like to read NP as they give knowledge and it is integral to me. Secondly it also helps me during preparation of civil services. So hobby converges into exams preparation.
Adviser-2
Q-Have you heard about   sanskritisation? who gave it?
A-Sir, it was given by M.N.SRINIVAS in his case study of mysore. it is process of emulation  in fooding, dressing, language, behaviour  of higher castes ,done by castes which are lower in hierarchy.
Q-Is   this model relevant today. what  are  alternative models?
A-Sir, presently there are mainly 2 models. the dalit consciousness and assertion and rise of dalit literature, medicine, dalit  culture and dalit arts and rise of institutes like CDS, Now people are proud to assert that they are dalit and realized their political power. In second model we see rise of demand of claiming backward which though seems contradictory, but it is realization of fact that education is now imp. Factor of mobility and by reservation they can get more avenues of  education.
Q-You have background in economics and pol. Sc.? then  why sociology?
A-Sir, in  sociology we have to study various thoughts like Marxism,  parsons who ardently supported capitalism, research methods and statistical methods, study of various communities and religion enables us to respect diff. viewpoints. In paper on Indian   society, we study about various problems like child labour, informal sector and women related issues. so it help us to u/s Indian society better as an administrator.
Q-Anurag you belong to lucknow, as a CM what will be your priorities?
A-As a CM my top priorities would be- 1st- law n order because  without it no development policies and stability can work.2nd education because quantity is increasing but quality is deteriorating and employability is poor , so I would focus on iti’s and polytechnic for vocational education. 3rd my focus will be on power because without it no industry would investment, also education n agri. Would be affected. 4th I will emphasis on office mgmt as there is tendency in UP that files even 1yr are missing and records are destroyed.
Q-Do you know about position of revenue records in UP?
A-Sir, revenue records have been computerized under BHULEKH mission CLR scheme of goi. now we can access all land records on computer by entering  khasra or name of owner.
Q-What is your opinion on student union elections? Do you support recent decision?
A-Sir, in my opinion elections shd be conducted as they are imp. Grievance redressal  mechanism  for students who run from pillar to post.  Secondly the elections should be conducted as per LYNGDOH com. Rec.
Q-Tell few rec. Of LYNDOH com. ?
A-Sir, it recommended that elections should  not be on party symbols. A maximum expenditure should be fixed say rs. 5000. And provision of max. age  limit should be fixed because in UP students keep themselves enrolling due to elections.
Q-Won’t it affect academics?
A-Sir, they work within rules and they have right to protest peacefully.  any and they have right to protest  violation shd be tackled as per rule.
Adviser-4
Q-What is sarvodaya?
A-Sir, sarvodaya is a philosophy  standing for emancipication of all and upliftment of all sections of society.along with swaraj , it was gandhi’ji main goal. Later on after independence it was adopted by acharya vinoba bhave who started bhoodan movement from pochampalli near Hyderabad.( i asked for a glass of water and drank it.)
Q-What was methodology?
A-Sir, he visited villages on foot  and asked rich landlord’s to donate their some land to needy and marginalized sections. It was a method to bridge deep divide in society and was voluntary effort. There was a sequence of movement like bhoodan - gramdaan – prakhand daan- zilla daan. 
Q-What was govt. step in land reforms ?
A-Sir, govt. enacted various legislations like abolition of intermediaries act, zamindari abolition, consolidation act, and land holding’s act. These were put in sch-9 to prevent judicial review as they were in conflict with right to property.
Q-Were they successful?
A-Sir,  they didn’t succeed due to benami  transaction in name of their relatives and kins , to circumvent the legal limits.presently 0.9 hec. Is avg holding in a family.
Q-You seem to contradict your own statement 1st saying that  they didn’t succed and then  giving present data?
A-Sir, the present data is not due to land reforms but due to fragmentation of lands among brothers and kins and we in 3rd generation so small holdings.
Q-Do you know about nationalization of banks. tell?
A-Banks were nationalized by govt. to separate ownership from mgmt. as they were serving only capitalists and rich. They didn’t lend to needy and poor and had elitist approach. so to increase reach they were nationalized.
Q-There was a diff. as regard constitutional position prior and after  this. Can u tell what was it?
A-Sir, prior to it rite to property was a fundamental right and after that it became legal right under art. 300A.now we can’t approach higher courts thru writs in this case but can adopt legal process for securing it.




MARKS CIVIL SERVICES 2011



though this is final marksheet but i do not regard it as such...many questions are unanswered for me by UPSC...

           CIVIL SERVICES (MAIN) EXAMINATION, 2011

ROLL NO. :
344836
NAME :
ANURAG TRIPATHI
MARKS OBTAINED

SUBJECTS
MARKS
ESSAY (PAPER-III)
095
GENRAL STUDIES (PAPER-IV)
059
GENRAL STUDIES (PAPER-V)
101
OPTIONAL-I(PUBLIC ADMIN.) (PAPER-VI)
160
OPTIONAL-I(PUBLIC ADMIN.) (PAPER-VII)
147
OPTIONAL-II(SOCIOLOGY) (PAPER-VIII)
176
OPTIONAL-II(SOCIOLOGY) (PAPER-IX)
137
WRITTEN TOTAL
875
PERSONALITY TEST
225
FINAL TOTAL
1100


Remarks :-RECOMMENDED



Monday, 14 May 2012

last minute...

as we all burning last minute oil to appear on CSE pre. on 20 may, here i have something t o share with u all:-
  the biggest failure in life is failure to try...the more we wait for appropriate time , the more situations are complicated by days passing...so its best thing to face the battle early... few tips useful for prelims can be...
  1. don't add new knowledge/ crash course, just consolidate on ur strengths and revise it.
  2. if taken prelims test series, then just go through the test papers and identify the blunders/mistakes made in tests so that it is not repeated on 20th.
  3. in g.s. try to attempt more questions, if u haven't heard of the topic  of ques. then its safe to leave it, otherwise you can attempt topics knwn by elimination of wrong ans. and checking combination's of options, many ques. can be solved by this method only.
  4.  prior to bubbling the sheet, make sure you are having final say, as this time changing options is rather difficult.
  5. there are times when we mark true option in question paper while when we finally fill bubble, there is mismatch , so make sure that both options match exactly.
  6. in paper- II CSAT, please see that units given in question and those in options are same , sometimes question may be in litre or crore and options are in kg. or lakhs/ thousands.
  7. IN CSAT-II, verify that question is asking percentage or numbers, few ques. can be solved after seeing, and there is no need to solve it, as ans,  may be- DATA INSUFFICIENT or N.O.T.
  8. in both paper attempt atleast 65-70% ques. as recent trends in prelims show that at least 52-55% marks are needed to qualify for mains, so don't take risk as 100% accuracy may not be possible due to nature of questions.
  9. always have a sharp eye on serial no. of ques. in paper and what you correspondingly mark in answersheet,  remember aslight mismatch can waste your whole efforts and hard work.
  10. Don't panic on seeing tough paper, be cool and maintain that till you are out of hall in both sittings, it will be common for all so be composed and maintain it til last question.
  11. have an eye on ur watch, never make any ques., issue of ur prestige, as there are block ques. which if solved will fetch equal marks but they can eat ur much time, so be aware..
after Ist paper don't engage in solving paper, but utilise it for rest and forget about first innings.

so , best of your efforts,health and goodluck to all...our efforts will be successful..

Friday, 4 May 2012

thanks all...

thanks to all of you...it wasn't possible without u all.....

  1. (whole family)mummy-papa {both}
  2. Suchi
  3. all FRIENDS who were there behind me and with me to boost my dwindling confidence..

LOVE YOU ALL....THANKS

Wednesday, 2 May 2012

WHAT'S YOUR AGE?

anurag, prankur, beckham and brian lara
Happy (official mark sheet) birthday to myself..... AS I COMPLETE MY 28TH YEAR OFFICIALLY...ON RECORD...I MUST THANK RELIANCE LIFE,RELIANCE M.F. AND WAY2SMS...BECAUSE THEY WERE ONLY TO REMIND ME THAT I WAS NOW 28....and to add to my pleasure I got to know that I shared the birthday with my friend Prankur and iconic Beckham and Brian Lara...and the day when finally US delivering Justice(remember last yr.)
Related to this phenomenon is the recent age-related controversy of General V.K.Singh, though now a closed chapter, but it left a very pertinent questions on my mind, namely...
  • how to prove that i was born on that specific date, if u don't have hospital certificate(even those can be fudged)
  • is high school mark sheet only authentic document to prove your birth in INDIA
  • what about millions of people who don't reach upto high school, how can they prove
  • and why we are not able to built well devised statistical system in India
  • and off course on humorous side, why female's-age related jokes are on round, is it really true.
  • to prove above point we can see different ages by HOROSCOPE and authentic document namely, mark sheet
        well if we try to introspect and analyse our parents usually reduce a year or two while admitting to schools,in presumption that we would have greater length of career, which is mostly but not a 100% case....even sometimes there is mistake and we can easily find the reverse in which younger ones at end are older due to schools clerical or headmasters mistake...and are superannuated earlier than their ORIGINAL AGE...

i am trying to figure out who was the person who initiated that high school is authentic one...and believe me a 9th standard, 18 yr old ward's parent can file a Rs. 50/- affidavit saying that my child is only 15 yrs and that will be accepted.... no if, no butttt's....wah re affidavit...you can be speaking truth that may be treated as fiction and you file an affidavit even black turns white (including money)...believe me there will be huge aberration in demographic data claiming INDIA  to be a young country as our majority population can't even prove its birth , lest forget about date...
 let me recollect an incident....in my Mumbai regional office ,there was tradition that birthday of colleagues was celebrated on 1st working day of every month....as when it came May...Himmatbhai ,called my name from dais to  collect my gift from director saa'b...and to my surprise i didn't even knew that it was my b'day today and i even didn't heard it properly...but when colleagues said you go, its for you...i was just surprised and suddenly remembered that i was not Gandhi or Shastri  but Lara...true to my self-conscience, i spoke from dais the reality and everyone was with a smile on face...like in case of trees we can decide the age by no. of rings and recently in our species case by bone density test(?), is there any way by which we can get the real picture how old are we....
even few of my D.M.P.S. friends still call me Gandhi,(also due to similar physique, and thought process)...and hearing which i feel very elated....
{last two bullets(?) will be shared in next post as they are very real-n-interesting.}
my query to you all learned companions is that like in case of trees we can decide the age by no. of rings and recently in our species case by bone density test(?), is there any way by which we can get the real picture how old are we...

 so, if today someone asks me what's your age or date of birth, i,myself ask a question and then re-direct it towards the inquisitive souls- which one...the marksheet wali or asli wali and on seeing his/her face after this, you can see and feel the dilemma which our govt. is facing regarding policies or which a student after 12th faces for career options...so...

whats your age?    (...be a respondent...)



BANARAS : A Civilisational City

This is Manickarnika, where death is auspicious,  where life is fruitful, where one grazes the pastures of heaven.  There is no tirtha like ...