Nothing Can Stop You : An Inspiring Story of Prahlad

Prahlad Meena AIR-615 CSE-11

Kanaram was a watchman in the locality Gandhi Nagar on Tonk Road in Jaipur city. He served there as a watchman for various IAS/IPS Officers for about twenty years. He used to get the responsibility to keep watch over an IAS Officer every day. While doing his duty he used to get influenced by the behaviour of these officers. The way they used to talk to the subdued or behave with their own children, made Kanaram feel that he too would make his son Prahlad Narayan Meena an IAS or IPS Officer one day. But fate had different plans. Kanaram died in 1995. At that time Prahlad was merely in his 7th standard. The untimely death of his father not only made him mature at such a young age, but also made him return to his village Rampura. Nevertheless, his mother kept the flame burning of the dream his father had seen for him. She always used to keep reminding Prahlad of where he had to reach, but looking at the economic scenario of the house Prahlad had to get a job to earn some money, which had an adverse influence on his studies. Consequently, he became very weak at studies. So much so that no one had any expectations from him when he filled the forms for the 8th standard. His brother-in-law used to work at the Secretariat in Jaipur. He brought him back for further studies to Jaipur. His admission was done in a private school, where his classmates used to make fun of him because of his rural background. He did not know much about the city and he was also lagging behind in his studies, but slowly he started getting his share of attention. He knew that if he will study hard, then in future he could pull his family out of their economic miseries. Slowly but steadily he started refining himself and in the end topped that school in his 12th standard.

Owing to their poor economic condition Prahlad first did a B.A. and then a B.Ed.. In 2008 he got a job as a Trained Graduate Teacher in English in Delhi. This helped him with his economic condition as well. He sent his mother to various pilgrimage destinations which she always wanted to see. Because he was not in his village for so long, other villagers seized his land. This made him very angry, but neither did he have the power nor the money to fight them. Thus, the desire to become an IAS or IPS Officer grew even stronger in him.

He started preparing for the civil service and he always kept studying even when he had to travel because of his job or any other reasons. In August 2011 he passed the UPSC Prelims and in May 2012 he also crossed the final barrier. He got an All India Rank of 615. Now he will go to Mussourie in August for his training, on completion of which he’ll get a posting somewhere.

UPSC Awareness for Beginners : From A to Z

Ye UPSC kya h ??

About the Indian Civil Services : 

Which is the right career for all those of you who are having the passion to serve The Nation - 

“ Civil Services ko lock kiya jaaye ".

Career Path : How to get in: 
The Civil Services selection remains one of the few untainted exams in India. The examination is conducted by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) every year. The announcement of the first stage of the selection process is made in the national dailies in the month of Nov-Dec (so watch out!).  The Employment News carries full details of the total number of vacancies, eligibility conditions, plan of examination, and the date of the round of selection to various Central Services (like IAS, IPS, IFS and Indian services in accounts, customs, revenue, postal, railway, defence etc.)

PS. Website: The website www.upsc.gov.in carries full details in case u miss the ads.

How to go about with the UPSC examinations :

The competitive examinations at UPSC are in three stages :

1) Preliminary examinations (Prelims):

 The prelims are held around May-June.It has objective ie multiple

choice questions. There are two papers (duration of each being 2

hrs). 

a) General studies  

b) Aptitude test

PS. The prelims score has no bearing for determining the final merit

list for the services.

2) Main examination :

The main written examination usually takes place in Oct-Nov, it comprises of 9 papers in all  

(a lot more strenuous than CAT!)

Duration of each paper is 3 hrs.

Language: one of the Indian languages, English, Essay GK and Current

Affairs: 2 papers on general studies

Optionals: papers from two subjects that fall in optional-1 and two papers from optional-2 (a choice of subjects is listed by the UPSC in the prospectus)

Candidates who are successful in the main examinations are eligible for an interview which plays a crucial part in the selection.

3) The Interview :The interview calls are sent in March-April of the following year and they take place in the month of April-May. The Board of interviewers look for a well-adjusted personality with the social traits, integrity and qualities of leadership . 

PS. The number of candidates called for the interview is normally twice the number of vacancies.

BEWARE : The whole process of selection in the civil services takes a full year and when the application process is included it sums up to 18 months in all.

PLEASE NOTE :The main exam score and the interview determines the placement in the final list. You have your say in the choice of service if you have secured a high position, otherwise accept what is offered if not take another attempt (4 attempts permitted) in the general category. Of course you have to start from the prelims all

over again.

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Anurag Shukla

IIT Madras

anurag.shukla89@gmail.com

Books List : UPSC : Public Administration

I am not too bad to be taken :))

1. Indian Administration - Ramesh K. Arora & Rajni Goyal.

2. Indian Administration  - S.R. Maheswari.

3. Administrative Theory  - Avasti & Avasti

4. Public Administration  - Avasti & Maheswari.

5. Administrative Thinkers - R. Prasad and Prasad.

6. Administrative Thinkers  - S.R. Maheswari.
7. Public Administration - Sadan and Sharma
8. Local Government - S.R. Maheswari.
9. New Horizons of Public Administration - Mohit Bhattacharya.
10. Public Administration Theory and concepts - Rumki Basu
11. Public Administration (Manual) (TATA MC Graw Hill) - Laxmikanth.
12. Indian Constitution - D.D. Basup (or) Pandey.
13. Public Administration and Public Affairs - Nicholas Henry.
14. Modern Public Administration - Nigro and Nigro.

Books List : UPSC-Geography

REFERENCE BOOKS FOR PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION :

·  Certificate of Physical Geography - Goh Cheng Leong.

·  Economic & Commercial Geography - Made Simple Series - Rupa Publications.

·  Human and Economic Geography - Leong & Norgan

·  Human Geography - Majid Hussain.

·  Geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain.

·  Cartography - R.L. Singh

·  Geography of India - Gopal Singh

·  Economic & Commercial Geography of India - C.B. Memoria

·  Orient longman - Atlas.

·  TTK - Atlas

·  Dictionary of Geography - Penguin

·  Spectrum guide for Geography.

·  Siddhartha - Preliminary Question Bank.

·  Geography Guide - Narmadeshwar Prasad.

·  Brilliants 

REFERENCE BOOKS FOR MAINS EXAMINATION :Geography

Geography Books Paper - I

• Physical geography - Savinder Singh
• The Earth's dynamic surface - K. Sidhartha
• Physical geography - Strahler & Strahler
• Climatology - D.S. Lal
• Physical geography made simple - Rupa
• Oceanography - Sharma & Vital
• Biogeography - Savinder Singh
• Evolution of geographical thoughts - Majid Hussain and Adhikari
• Economic geography - K. Sidhartha
• Economic and social geography made simple - Rupa
• Urban geography - K. Sidhartha
• Human geography - Majid Hussain
• Geography of population - R.C. Chandra
• Regional Planning in India - hand & Puri
• Political geography - Dixit

Geography Books Paper - II

• India: Physical aspects - K Sidhartha
• Geography of India - Mamoria
• Agricultural geography - Majid Hussain
• Agricultural problems in India - Sadhu and Singh
• Economic & Commercial geography of India - Mamoria
• India's urbanisation and urban systems - R. Ramachandran
• Regional planning in India - Chand and Puri
• Political geography - Dixit
• India: political aspects - K. Sidhartha

Booklist in the perspective of changed syllabus Geomorphology (Paper-1)

The Earth's Dynamic Surface - By K. Siddhartha
Geomorphology - By Bloom
Geomorphology - By Sparks
Economic Geology - By Shackleton
Environmental Geology - By Valdiya

Climatology
Atmosphere Weather and Climate - By K. Siddhartha
Climate History and Modem Man - By Chorley
Science and Wonders of Atmosphere – By Gedzelman
Bio & Environmental Geog. Biosphere A Geography of Life - By Dr. Thomas and K. Siddhartha
Environmental Geology -ByValdiya
Living in the Environment - By Miller
Settlement Geography- Cities Urbanization and Urban System - By K. Siddhartha & S. Mukherjee
Urban Geography - By Herbert Thomas
Indian Industrial Geography Indian industry a geographical perspective - By S. Mukherjee and K. Siddhartha
Indian Economy - By Uma Kapila
General Reading environmental concerns and strategies - By T. N. Khoshoo
Development Indicators -Oxford University Press.
Environmental Hazards - published by Ministry of Environment and forest.

How to prepare
These changes are not at all mind boggling. They can be tackled with élan if thoughtful inputs goes into the preparation. And here comes the role of coaching institutes. Quality education to IAS aspirants will be of paramount importance in their preparation. What an individual candidate can accumulate in a year or so, institutes can make the candidate assimilate in a couple of months.

Also, to add to our discussion, these changes in the syllabus are also beneficial to the aspirants in some way. Like, as Geography is tending to become multi-disciplinary it would provide more coverage for general studies. Furthermore, the non-serious candidates can be weeded out by this process. =============================X=========================== 

Pattern Of UPSC

PART-A : PRELIMS

(Paper 1) (200 marks) - Duration : Two hrs.
· Current events of national and international importance
· History of India and Indian national movement
· Indian and World Geography- physical, social, economic geography of India and the
world
· Indian Polity and governance – constitution, political system, panchayati raj, public
policy, Rights issues, etc.
· Economic and social development – sustainable development, poverty, inclusion,
demographics, social sector initiatives etc.
· General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and climate change-that donot
require subject specialization
· General science.

(Paper II) (200 marks) – Duration : Two hrs
· Comprehension
· Interpersonal skills including communication skills
· Logical reasoning and analytical ability
· Decision making and problem solving
· General mental ability
· Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. (Class X level),
Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. –Class X level)
· English language comprehension skills (Class X level)


PART-B: MAINS EXAMINATION

Paper-I One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the 22 languages included in the VIIIth Schedule to the Constitution (Qualifying Paper) 300 Marks Paper-II English (Qualifying Paper) 300 Marks Paper-III Essay [in the medium you choose] 200 Marks Papers IV & V General Studies (300 Marks for each paper) 600 Marks Papers VI, VII, VIII & IX Any two subjects (each having 2 papers) to be selected from the prescribed optional subjects (300 marks for each paper) 1200 Marks Total Marks for Written Examination 2000 Marks Interview Test [in the medium you choose] 300 Marks Grand Total 2300 Marks

UPSC:Reference Books For Preliminary Examination: General Studies

1. Indian History - India Struggle for Independence by Bipin Chandra; NCERT Books ( XI & XII )
2. Geography - Spectrum
3. Indian Polity - Constitution of India by Bakshi
4. Indian Economy - Plus One, Plus Two Books, Pratiyogita Darpan
5. General Science - Tata Mc Graw Hill Guide
6. Mental Ability - Quantitative Apitude by R.S. Aggarwal
7. Current Affairs - Some magazines and Newspapers

Self Motivation

i. The Hindu/The Times of India
 ii. Frontline
iii. Civil Service Chronicle
iv. Chanakya
v. Competition WIZARD
vi. Civil Services Today

8. Guides

1. Tata Mc Graw Hill
2. Spectrum
3. Unique

Topic Wise Reference On General Studies

Books on Indian History & Culture:
NCERT (+ 2 level) — Ancient India, Medieval India, Modern India.
Publication Division : Gazetteer of India (Vol 2 : History & Culture)
Gandhi Nehru Tagore & Ambedkar — Gopal Krishna
Bipin Chandra - Modern India
A.C.Banerjee - History of Modern India Raghavan Aiyer — Mahatma Gandhi

Books on Geography:
NCERT : Physical Geography of India for X - XII Std
A Good School Atlas
Sharma & Cotinho : Economic and Commercial Geography of India.
Khullar : India- A Comprehnsive Geography
Charles Farro : General Principles of World Geography
Charles Farro : Monsoon Asia Reports published by Centre for Science and Enviornment And Tata Energy Research Institute
National journal - Kurukshetra, Yojana etc.
Down to earth

Books on Indian Economy:
NCERT (+1 level)—Evolution of Indian Economy(I C Dhingra).
Mishra & Puri or Dutt & Sundaram - Indian Economy
Economic Survey
The Economic Times,Business Standard
Yojana

Books on Social and National Issues :
Social Problem - Ram Ahuja
Social Welfare Magazine - Published by ministry of social welfare
Yojana/Kurukshetra
IIPa Journal

Books on Indian Polity:
NCERT (+1 level)—Indian Political System
N.L. Madan : Bhartiya Rajya Vyavastha
D.D. Basu—Indian Constitution
Kashyap—Constitution of India
Publication Division—Subhash C. Kashyap : Our Parliament
P.M. Bakshi—Indian Constitution
Our Constitution : Subhash C. kashyap
Perspective on Constitution : S.C. Kashyap
Frontline Magazine
IIPa Journal

Books on Science & Technology:
NCERT : (10 level) : Science, (+2 level) : Biology.
Popular Science Series (CSIR)
Reports Of the Ministry of Science and Technology Yojana
Science Reporter
Science and Technology in India - Spectrum

Books on Statistics:
(NCERT +1 level) Elementary Statistics
S.C.Gupta : Statistical Methods

Books on India and the World :
Journal of peace Studies
World Focus
Strategic Analysis
South Asian Journal

Other Books for General Studies:
1. India Year Book latest
2. One competitive Magazine
3. Guides like Tata Mc Graw Hill,

                      

UPSC: CSAT ANALYSIS 2011

Paper second contained only 80 questions but indeed it was a lengthy paper as it was fully loaded with comprehension passages. Comprehensions (bilingual) had 28 questions and English comprehension had 9 questions which almost contains half the paper. Quantetive Aptitude section had 13 questions, Logical reasoning contributed 13 questions including 3 questions of syllogism and 9 questions were from data interpretation. Decision making and problem solving had 8 questions which was purely application based. You can better understand by the following Table:

Comprehension	28
English Comprehension	9
Quantitative Aptitude	13
Logical Reasoning	13
Data Interpretation	9
Decision Making and Problem Solving	8

UPSC SUCCESS STORY:Neeraj Kumar Singh (AIR 11/CSE11) shares his Preparation strategy and Success Story

In the year 2011, A student of M.A. in Economics from IIT Madras achieved 11^th rank in his 1^st attempt in Civil service Exam.   

Name	Neeraj Kumar Singh
Roll number	240550
Rank (CSE 2011)	11
Optional Subjects	Economics Public Administration
Medium for Mains Exam	English
Mains Examination Centre	New Delhi
Number of Attempts	1
Details of Graduation and Post-Grad.	Integrated (5 year) Master of Arts in Economics
Schooling (Medium)	English
Extracurricular activities, hobbies, achievements etc.	Essay Writing Event Management
Are you a working professional?	Yes
If yes, then did you leave your job or prepared while on the job?	Joined the job after the main examination
Did you take Coaching?	Prelims: Yes Mains: Yes. (for economics) Interview: Took mocks
Did you buy any postal courses?	No
Did you join any Mock test series?	Yes

On an average, How many hours did you study per day? How many months did it take you to complete the core syllabus of GS and optional subjects?

My prep was divided into phases.

Phase 1

The first phase was from May 2010 to July 2010. This was the period when we had a summer break in IIT. Since there was no pressure of coursework I went full-on with the preparation during this period. Call it the initial enthusiasm, but I often studied for 16 hours per day during this period. On an average I think I devoted 14 hours per day during this time. A lot of learning happened at this time as anything I read added to the knowledge base. I completed about 80 percent of first reading of Pub Ad and 40 percent of first reading of Econ during this time.
 

Phase 2

The second phase was from August 2010 to November 2010 which was my 9^th sem at IIT. There was coursework but most of the courses related to Economics so the time spent in classes was also in some ways useful for civil services prep. During this period I spent close to 8 hours a day on civils prep. I managed to complete full reading of Pub Ad and Econ once and started on revision of both subjects.
 

Phase 3

The third phase was from December 2010 – April 2011. I completed one more revision of my optional subjects. I wasn’t very confident about paper 2 of Pub Ad though. Since I also had to work on my final year thesis, I spent about 10 hours per day on civils prep.
 

Phase 4

The fourth phase was mid-April 2011 to May 2011. I prepared only for prelims during this period. I had also kept on preparing for GS during all these phases. But I never set any target on GS. I was a very fluid preparation.
 

Phase 5

Fifth phase was from June 2011-October 2011. This was the most crucial phase. I moved to Delhi and joined a coaching from Economics and test series for Pub Ad and GS. For Pub Ad and GS I also started a discussion group with few friends. The discussions were really helpful. During this time I started understanding both Econ and Pub Ad in a much better way. Now I was able to not just understand a concept but go beyond that and relate it with other concepts in the subject and present a coherent picture. I devoted close to 10 hours a day during this period.

Larsen & Toubro- The Giant in engineering & Construction

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) is a technology, engineering, construction and manufacturing company. It is one of the largest and most respected companies in India's private sector.

More than seven decades of a strong, customer-focused approach and the continuous quest for world-class quality have enabled it to attain and sustain leadership in all its major lines of business.

L&T has an international presence, with a global spread of offices. A thrust on international business has seen overseas earnings grow significantly. It continues to grow its overseas manufacturing footprint, with facilities in China and the Gulf region.

The company's businesses are supported by a wide marketing and distribution network, and have established a reputation for strong customer support.

L&T believes that progress must be achieved in harmony with the environment. A commitment to community welfare and environmental protection are an integral part of the corporate vision.

L&T'S SIGNATURE OF EXCELLENCE IS EVIDENT ON:   Hydrocarbon projects executed in India, the Middle East and South East Asia.       Power projects executed in India, the Gulf and Sri Lanka.       The world's largest coal gasifier made in India and exported to China   The world’s biggest EO reactor for a petrochemical complex in the Gulf   The world’s largest FCC regenerator for a refinery   Asia’s highest viaduct   The world’s longest limestone conveyor   L&T played a critical role in building India’s first nuclear powered submarine   L&T played a major role in India's maiden moon mission