In the world, one single rule applies to the men: Make the Woman happy. Do something she likes, and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played.
Here is a guide to the point system:
SIMPLE DUTIES
-- You make the bed (+1)
-- You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
-- You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
-- You go out to buy her what she wants (+5)
-- In the rain (+8)
-- But return with Beer (-5)
-- You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
-- You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
-- You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
-- You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
-- It's her pet (-10)
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
-- You stay by her side the entire party (0)
-- You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college buddy (-2)
-- Named Tina (-4)
-- Tina is a dancer (-10)
HER BIRTHDAY
-- You take her out to dinner (0)
-- You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)
-- Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
-- And it's all-you-can- eat night (-3)
-- It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can- eat night, and your face is painted the colours of your favourite team (-10)
A NIGHT OUT
-- You take her to a movie (+2)
-- You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
-- You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
-- You take her to a movie you like (-2)
-- It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)
-- You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)
YOUR PHYSIQUE
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts (-30)
-- You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too." (-8000)
ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION
-- She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5) [Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT]
-- You hesitate in responding (-10)
-- You reply, "Where?" (-35)
-- Any other response (-20)
COMMUNICATION
-- When she wants to talk about a problem , you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned __expression (0)
-- You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
-- You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
-- She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)
Source: An E-mail from friend
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A valuable Thought for CSE aspirants......Reply to Miss/Mr Anonymous
Miss/Mr Anonymous has left a new comment on the post "Reply to Mr P Shanker":
Sir,
I have always found your blog very informative, and by the no. of queries you receive, is a proof that many look upto ur blog for advice.
I would like to share my opinion, which if u agree with it, can share with the civil services aspirant in ur own way.
1. Many students spend a lot of time and effort in figuring out a 'formula', trying to judge how much they should score etc
2. Generally IAS as their first option and barely know about other services and give no thought to their own skill sets and interest.
I feel that preparing for Civil Services, though is very excruciating, it can be enjoyed. rather than obsessing over how much score one can get (which is not predictable), a candidate should derive joy in learning about such diverse topics. This approach not only takes away some amount of stress but also prevents one from feeling lost, in case one does not clear, because the take way from one to two years of studying is huge.
Prior to appearing for CSE, I was a educator and worked a lot in the field of how students learn best. When I taught, I was amazed at the steep learning curve which a student achieves if there is a reason, correlation and above all enjoyment in the process of learning. Above all identifying ones interest and strengths and leveraging upon it is very important, rather that trying to copy what others around do. This not only helps in achieving ones aim but also leads one to a more holistic development and a confident self.
civil services requires people who can make decisions,troubleshoot and have an ability to think objectively , which comes easily to those who approach the UPSC examination with the right perceptive and put their efforts in the right direction.
Neutralviews: Hello Mr /Miss Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it....I found your comment so valuable that I am publishing it as a new posting on the blog….You rightly mentioned the general psychology of the CSE aspirants who emphasized much on the score…I feel that one should study for the sake of study, to enjoy, to enrich himself….for example when I was preparing for CSE, I usually browsed 4 to 5 news papers…but it was not a burden at all because I was very much interested in reading the news papers…I used to be so engrossed in it that I usually forgot the sense of the time…..this habit is still continuing…and because of it, I feel more confident, informed and empowered… Knowledge is a flow concept…It is a dynamic one..one should enrich it continuously…I strongly feel that if CSE aspirants heed your valuable advice, they will definitely enjoy the process of CSE preparation…however due to intense competition, the pressure on CSE aspirants is quite natural….and to beat the cut throat competition, one is forced to make strategy to obtain maximum marks…because ultimately CSE is a number game which of course is highly unpredictable…..expecting more write ups like this one from you.....keep blogging…..
Sir,
I have always found your blog very informative, and by the no. of queries you receive, is a proof that many look upto ur blog for advice.
I would like to share my opinion, which if u agree with it, can share with the civil services aspirant in ur own way.
1. Many students spend a lot of time and effort in figuring out a 'formula', trying to judge how much they should score etc
2. Generally IAS as their first option and barely know about other services and give no thought to their own skill sets and interest.
I feel that preparing for Civil Services, though is very excruciating, it can be enjoyed. rather than obsessing over how much score one can get (which is not predictable), a candidate should derive joy in learning about such diverse topics. This approach not only takes away some amount of stress but also prevents one from feeling lost, in case one does not clear, because the take way from one to two years of studying is huge.
Prior to appearing for CSE, I was a educator and worked a lot in the field of how students learn best. When I taught, I was amazed at the steep learning curve which a student achieves if there is a reason, correlation and above all enjoyment in the process of learning. Above all identifying ones interest and strengths and leveraging upon it is very important, rather that trying to copy what others around do. This not only helps in achieving ones aim but also leads one to a more holistic development and a confident self.
civil services requires people who can make decisions,troubleshoot and have an ability to think objectively , which comes easily to those who approach the UPSC examination with the right perceptive and put their efforts in the right direction.
Neutralviews: Hello Mr /Miss Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it....I found your comment so valuable that I am publishing it as a new posting on the blog….You rightly mentioned the general psychology of the CSE aspirants who emphasized much on the score…I feel that one should study for the sake of study, to enjoy, to enrich himself….for example when I was preparing for CSE, I usually browsed 4 to 5 news papers…but it was not a burden at all because I was very much interested in reading the news papers…I used to be so engrossed in it that I usually forgot the sense of the time…..this habit is still continuing…and because of it, I feel more confident, informed and empowered… Knowledge is a flow concept…It is a dynamic one..one should enrich it continuously…I strongly feel that if CSE aspirants heed your valuable advice, they will definitely enjoy the process of CSE preparation…however due to intense competition, the pressure on CSE aspirants is quite natural….and to beat the cut throat competition, one is forced to make strategy to obtain maximum marks…because ultimately CSE is a number game which of course is highly unpredictable…..expecting more write ups like this one from you.....keep blogging…..
Monday, September 28, 2009
Reply to Mr P Shanker
Hello Mr P Shanker, thanks for your visit on the blog….I am replying your queries in the sequence of your questions:
[1] You have rightly mentioned the points which any examiner must be looking for in the Essay paper…you can always add subtitles…I have gone through the attachment sent by you…It is very good….It can be a model Essay for you..besides, Essay should stick to the topic with relevant content….there is no standard rule to be followed….the maximum marks in essay varies…so far I heard [not sure]180 highest in Essay paper.
[2] Regarding Sociology, I hardly have any idea….but your target is well achievable..you can score 370 plus with good writing skill…for that you need to do a lot of writing practice…you can write answers and get it evaluated by any good professor of sociology nearby regularly….
[3] Regarding Pub Ad, you can score 350 plus easily for this you should read news papers extensively…minimum 4 to 5 news papers…you need to pick the examples ,stories, case studies ,etc which are relevant according to syllabus…along with it you can go through IJPA journals for value addition…
[4] Regarding interview, you said rightly, it is very crucial in deciding your final rank…for this you should focus on your communication skill and body language…make it a habit from the beginning to speak selectively with appropriate words and pin pointedly….definitely you can score more than 200 plus…
[5] Regarding your bio-data.. Though you can send me…but I think first you should focus on mains and don’t think too much about Interview…at the time of the final call, you can send me your bio-data ..I will send you the possible questions on it at that time…
Hope, this reply will satisfy you…..I appreciate your analysis and great zeal for success…my good wishes are with you…I will happy to see you in IFS…..good luck….further query is Welcome….. keep blogging…
[1] You have rightly mentioned the points which any examiner must be looking for in the Essay paper…you can always add subtitles…I have gone through the attachment sent by you…It is very good….It can be a model Essay for you..besides, Essay should stick to the topic with relevant content….there is no standard rule to be followed….the maximum marks in essay varies…so far I heard [not sure]180 highest in Essay paper.
[2] Regarding Sociology, I hardly have any idea….but your target is well achievable..you can score 370 plus with good writing skill…for that you need to do a lot of writing practice…you can write answers and get it evaluated by any good professor of sociology nearby regularly….
[3] Regarding Pub Ad, you can score 350 plus easily for this you should read news papers extensively…minimum 4 to 5 news papers…you need to pick the examples ,stories, case studies ,etc which are relevant according to syllabus…along with it you can go through IJPA journals for value addition…
[4] Regarding interview, you said rightly, it is very crucial in deciding your final rank…for this you should focus on your communication skill and body language…make it a habit from the beginning to speak selectively with appropriate words and pin pointedly….definitely you can score more than 200 plus…
[5] Regarding your bio-data.. Though you can send me…but I think first you should focus on mains and don’t think too much about Interview…at the time of the final call, you can send me your bio-data ..I will send you the possible questions on it at that time…
Hope, this reply will satisfy you…..I appreciate your analysis and great zeal for success…my good wishes are with you…I will happy to see you in IFS…..good luck….further query is Welcome….. keep blogging…
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Reply to Mr Dilip
Hello Mr Dilip, Thanks for your visit on the blog…My training is over in Hyderabad and currently undergoing at Faridabad…Regarding DANICS and DAPICS, I have written in previous postings…Kindly go through the older posts…you can get sufficient idea about these Group-B Posts…further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Nanu
Hello Mr Nanu, thanks for your visit on the blog……you have sufficient time to prepare for CSE-2011….you can start it after your certification test…From Jan 2010 to June 2010, you can complete your 2nd optional…From July 2010 to Nov 2010, you can finish General study and from Dec 2010, you can prepare your 1st optional from mains cum Pre point of view along with GS from Pre point of view….you can write your queries on this blog directly…I will try to reply each of them….or you can write it on neutralviews@gmail.com …….all the best for CSE-2011….further query is welcome….keep blogging…..
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Reply to Mr Hemant Sharma
Hello Mr Hemant Sharma, thanks for your visit on the blog…So far there is no official communication from UPSC regarding the changes in the pattern of CSE exam post Mr V.Moily’s recommendations….Though these recommendations are being considered at the highest level …but I don’t see any possibility of any radical change in the CSE pattern suddenly….at least it should take few more years…..so don’t worry about the changes…for the existing pattern of CSE, you can see the detailed advertisement in Employment News Paper or you can visit UPSC website www.upsc.gov.in ……..prepare well for the CSE-2010…good luck….further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Dilip
Hello Mr Dilip, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it....My training is going on in Faridabad [NACEN]...I was in Hyderabad in the month of August 2009 in NPA....Any way, We shall meet one day....further query is welcome...keep blogging....
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Reply to CSE Aspirant Mr Amit-IAS
Hello Mr Amit, thanks for your visit on the blog….It is nice that you have finalized your plan to settle in Indore….I don’t have any idea about the good coaching institutes in Indore….You can do one thing that before joining any coaching institute, ask for free demo classes for two to three days…this way you can judge the quality of the faculty as well his/her teaching style….but I want to suggest you that if you have plan to shift to Delhi then Why to waste money in Indore [on coaching institute]….will it not be better to enjoy self study in the mean time?……Regarding your addiction to your dream, this is a good indication for the sure success in the exam…this is the right attitude and you need to preserve and cultivate it throughout your journey to crack CSE….Regarding my identity, I have already replied on this topic in my recent post..However you can have some idea by browsing the posts written in 2007…..further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Reply to Mr Kaushlendra
Hello Mr Kaushlendra, thanks for your visit on the blog and suggestion….I can hardly do anything regarding the programme of the counter because I have taken the help of free counter service…In any case, the counter statistics is meant to know the number of total counts on the page…apart from it, I don’t have any other hidden or economic motive….keep blogging…..
Reply to Mr Dilip
Hello Mr Dilip, thanks for your visit on the blog….I have already written about your queries in my previous replies..kindly refer those posts…however, It is going to be difficult to make you understand by post…The only better way is go through the previous year question papers which will give you the clear cut idea about the way UPSC ask the questions….to save your time and effort, you can refer the coaching material and the books I have mentioned in my previous posts…..further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Reply to Mr/Miss Anonymous
Hello Mr/Miss Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog……Management optional is quite unique in nature which very few candidates prefer…I don’t know any body in my circle who took Management…however every optional has the potential, pros and cons….kindly take the guidance from any coaching institute as I don’t have any specific information about it….however, I am trying to contact few people who may guide you on this topic…As soon as I get these guys, I will write it on the blog…further query is welcome…keep blogging…..
Reply to Mr Dilip
Hello Mr Dilip, thanks for your visit on the blog…..The salary structure, facilities and service conditions are exactly the same for IFoS as IAS and IPS as this is also an All India Service….The job profile of IFoS is also very good as you will be the king of vast forest area…..Regarding the exemption, I am not sure about it….but I think you can get the exemption from attending FC [foundational course] which is being conducted at LBSNAA along with CSE candidates….further query is welcome…keep blogging…..
Reply to Mr/Miss Anonymous
Hello Mr/Miss Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog and congratulations on getting in to IRS[C&CE]….The training schedule in NACEN will commence from 18th of December 2009 probably as FC is getting over on 12th December….however you can get the latest further updates from the academy website www.nacen.gov.in ....…..further query is welcome…keep blogging…
Reply to Miss Upali
Hello Miss Upali, thanks for your visit on the blog and congratulations for getting in IRS[C&CE] and for being some one’s…..Since you have not joined FC, so unfortunately you will not get any salary and arrears for the period of FC….any way the arrears is given in the month of January or February depending on the clearance of the bills by the department….the amount is approximately RS-40,000/- only….my best wishes for your grand occasion…..Further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Reply to Mr Rahul Pandey
Hello Mr Rahul Pandey, thanks for your visit on the blog…You are partially correct but you need something extra for GS in Pre as well in mains beyond NCERT….you have to learn the art of time management to crack CSE…Topic like GK, current affairs, Economy, etc need extra reading…Since it is humanly impossible to read all the books available in the market…you can take the help of guide e.g. Spectrum or TMH and coaching notes which will save your time and effort…..It is strongly advisable to stick to syllabus and constantly refer previous years papers of Pre and Mains…If you are comfortable with NCERT and News Papers and able to score more than 75 questions then there is no need to refer any other sources…all the best for CSE-2010..further query is welcome…keep blogging…….
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Reply to Mr Anonymous
Hello Mr Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it…..It is indeed an honour to have you on this blog…Neutralviews strongly desires to publish your valuable articles on this blog….I firmly believe that in the era of specialization, globalization and increasing complications on the security front, the officers like you will be the most prized shoulders on which our Nation can rely for your able guidance in maintaining the security and integrity of the mother land……further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to Mr AK
Hello Mr AK, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about….Civil servants are required to work on the principle of neutrality and anonymity….I am trying to follow this principle in letter and spirit and hence the name of the blog….The disguised form make me to serve the blogging community in much more professional, impartial and efficient way…I am a stronger believer in the ‘Nishkama Karma’ philosophy of ‘Sreemad Bhagwat Geeta’….I strongly follow the advice of ex-president of USA Mr Harry Truman that ‘your work will succeed as long as you don’t care who gets the credit’…thus let Mr Manmauji takes all the credit and appreciation of the revered blogging community…. I humbly appreciate your interest…..I will reveal the identity at an appropriate time…..further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to CSE aspirant Mr Amit-IAS
Hello Mr Amit, thanks for your visit on the blog….If you are not getting old NCERT books…you can go through new one…no problem….regarding the list published earlier on the blog…it is most comprehensive and can be followed….regarding the News Paper and Magazine, it is true that it is a time consuming affair…but initially you will take some time, after few months you will get an idea about what to read and what not to read…..you should focus on major national, international, constitutional, social , economic and science and tech issue in news paper….you may not get any idea from this reply…thus I will suggest you to first go through the planner and then refer last 10 years GS question paper….then only you will have an idea about what to read and not to read….regarding notes, you should prefer making notes rather than keeping cuttings…but notes should be in point form and not very elaborated……besides, TMH can be referred provided you can grasp the topic from it…GK, physics, chemistry, biology and economy section can be studied…..further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Friday, September 18, 2009
Reply to Mr/Miss Anonymous
Hello Mr/Miss Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog….congratulations on your becoming OT at Hyderabad……you are going to have great fun during trekking…regarding the essentials….you must have been briefed by Mr JSV Prasad on this topic…the items are almost same…you can bring few jeans, 2-3 t-shirt, some warm inner wear, rain-coat, good jungle shoe[ as you will encounter leeches]….4-5 pairs of good shocks….towel, toilet shop and other daily usages items….sleeping bag is must which is not of good quality…..since you may hardly get any market on the route, you can carry some food stuffs…rechargeable torch is must [you can buy china made]…almost all the resting points have electricity barring few….ensure that luggage should be bare minimum…though one vehicle will be there to carry your luggage to the next destination….you will encounter good weather with intermittent rain occasionally…..the temperature will be very low at some locations…so ensure one jacket….monkey cap is also must….carry your personal medicine e.g good quality move [though one medical kit per group will be there]…if possible buy I-pod….Trekking is a great fun ….enjoy to the fullest….make good friends and interact with every one in the group….buy digital camera so that you can have memorable photographs….Ooty is near by…find some time to go there…though probably you will be received by DM of Ooty at last destination….but if not then try to persuade forest officers and fix the deal with car driver to go to Ooty….you can go to Mithun Da’s hotel Monarch and have some fun….of course there will be some tiring moments but don’t loose hope and enjoy each and every moment…..good luck….if possible share your FC moment and trekking moment with this blog and all it’s readers…..you can simply send the detail write up on neutralviews@gmail.com for publication ‘in the column UPDATES FROM MCR HRD’ on this blog….further query is welcome….keep blogging…..
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Reply to Mr Dilip
Hello Mr Dilip, thanks for your visit on the blog…I have already mentioned about pay package in previous postings….any way it is 21000/- only during foundation course[ 4 months]..the rest of the amount one get during his professional training in bulk in one’s respective academy….then around 27000/- during probation which increases slowly due to addition of DA…..it is same for all the services…further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Reply to Miss/Mr Aaruni...usage of Red, Blue and Yellow beacon lights
Question by Miss/Mr Aaruni: Sir,can you tell me the difference between red,blue and yellow beacon lights used on the cars by administrators and other officials?
Does all the selected candidates of CSE get that facility on their first postings?Who all from the services listed in CSE mains forms get them?
I am very curious to know and tried finding out about it on Internet but could not.
Thank you sir.
Neutralviews: Hello Mr/Miss Aaruni…thanks for your visit on the blog…regarding your query…it is a quite natural to be curious about the beacon lights…after all these lights attract all of us to enter in to this labyrinth i.e. the preparation for CSE….generally, red beacons are for political executives and very senior bureaucrats, blue and yellow lights are for administrators…however there is a huge variations from state to state…in fact the road vehicle Act of the state defines the color of light and the officials who are entitled to use it….Since every state has different rules for it, thus there is a conspicuous variations in their usage….regarding CSE candidates…..all of them are not entitled for its use on their first posting…It depends on the type of work they are handling at a particular time….
But, in my opinion, in a democratic set up one should not be attracted towards the beacon lights…as they are the symbols of feudal mind set…in fact these lights are provided on the official vehicles only as a ‘right of first passage’ to this vehicle considering that the user of this beacon vehicle must be going for performing some important duty of public interest….but now a days, this noble thought is being grossly miss utilised to show case the power…it has become a status symbol…..The people of Uttarakhand was so upset by illegal usage of these beacon lights that incumbent government has to issue an order to immediately removal of all beacon lights except some authorized officials immediately after coming in to power……in today’s milieu of technicisation, democratization, globalization and specialization , one should be judged on the basis of his competence, knowledge, integrity, austerity and skills and not on the basis of beacon lights, security commandos, etc...further query is welcome...keep blogging....
Does all the selected candidates of CSE get that facility on their first postings?Who all from the services listed in CSE mains forms get them?
I am very curious to know and tried finding out about it on Internet but could not.
Thank you sir.
Neutralviews: Hello Mr/Miss Aaruni…thanks for your visit on the blog…regarding your query…it is a quite natural to be curious about the beacon lights…after all these lights attract all of us to enter in to this labyrinth i.e. the preparation for CSE….generally, red beacons are for political executives and very senior bureaucrats, blue and yellow lights are for administrators…however there is a huge variations from state to state…in fact the road vehicle Act of the state defines the color of light and the officials who are entitled to use it….Since every state has different rules for it, thus there is a conspicuous variations in their usage….regarding CSE candidates…..all of them are not entitled for its use on their first posting…It depends on the type of work they are handling at a particular time….
But, in my opinion, in a democratic set up one should not be attracted towards the beacon lights…as they are the symbols of feudal mind set…in fact these lights are provided on the official vehicles only as a ‘right of first passage’ to this vehicle considering that the user of this beacon vehicle must be going for performing some important duty of public interest….but now a days, this noble thought is being grossly miss utilised to show case the power…it has become a status symbol…..The people of Uttarakhand was so upset by illegal usage of these beacon lights that incumbent government has to issue an order to immediately removal of all beacon lights except some authorized officials immediately after coming in to power……in today’s milieu of technicisation, democratization, globalization and specialization , one should be judged on the basis of his competence, knowledge, integrity, austerity and skills and not on the basis of beacon lights, security commandos, etc...further query is welcome...keep blogging....
Reply to CSE aspirant Mr Amit-IAS
Hello Mr Amit…thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it….regarding GS coaching, Vaji Ram and Ravi is the best at this moment….you can consider interaction as an alternative…..fee structure of these both coaching is unfortunately very high…[around 35000/-]….postal guidance is also available in both the institutes….Regarding psychology optional, first of all remove the mental block that for success in CSE, you need coaching….there are people who did it without the coaching…they took only material of these coachings and did it….the printed material and class notes are easily available in the market e.g. zerox shops in Rajinder Nagar or Mukherjee Nagar or Jawahar book depot, Ber Sarai, New Delhi….I will suggest you, first go through the basic books I have referred in the previous reply….if you find it very difficult to understand psychology….then you can think Geography as an optional because this optional along with PA can be prepared without any coaching help….regarding notes making….you should read the books at least two times thoroughly before making any notes…after completion of a chapter according to syllabus, you should refer previous years question paper [available in the market] on that topic and try to answer it….do this exercise for two times…then only, you will be in a position to make relevant notes…for the PA notes, you can see PA guide by Laxmikant…it is in the form of ready made notes for PT and mains…you can refer solved question paper published by chronicle publication or Jawahar book depot for PA, geography and GS…..for more details and strategic planning, you can purchase ‘IAS Planner’ by chronical publication….this will be quite helpful for you…..further query is welcome…keep blogging…..
Reply to Mr/Miss Anonymous
Hello Mr/Miss Anonymous, thanks for your visit on the blog….regarding your query, the service allocation is very complicated matter due to rule 16[2] of service rules…..generally, there is a clear cut category wise allocation in IAS and IPS….but still, OBC candidate can eat up the general seat of IAS and IPS if his/her rank is high and didn’t avail the benefit of reservation at any stage of the examination….e.g. an OBC candidate who has cleared CSE in 1st or 2nd or 3rd or 4th attempt with say AIR 8 within 30 years of age and didn’t take any benefit at PT or mains stage…then he will be considered as general category candidate and will eat up the seat of general….because general category does not indicate any specific caste….it is just a general pool as its name suggest…..so in CSE-2008 result ,I may be possible that some seats are allocated to the category candidate considering his merit in the exam…..This applies to SC and ST as well….further query is welcome…keep blogging…..
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Reply to CSE Aspirant Mr Amit-IAS
Hello Mr Amit, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it…..Regarding your query, Public ad is also very dynamic subject as compare to sociology….so you can opt pub ad in my view…the scoring pattern from last three years are quite encouraging in PA as compared to Sociology….but it should be solely your decision…if you like sociology more than pub ad then go for sociology strictly….you can score high marks only when you like the subject…..regarding optional for Pre….Pub ad is always better than psychology due to availability of material, high probability of getting through, less syllabus, etc….for books in PA, you can refer my old postings…however I will write for you as well in sequence of study…
For Public Administartion :
[1]P-1 Sharma and Sadana
[2] Thinker by Prasad and Prasad
[2] Mohit Bhattacharya
[3] guide by laxmikant [for Pre & Mains]
[4] BL Fadia [P-1 and 2]
[5]P-2 Goyal and Arora
[6]Polity by DD Basu
[7] selected IJPA journal
[8] Regular news paper Hindu and Times of India
[9] Some additional books for Pre [PA]….Nicolas Henry, Kuntz and essentials of organizational behavior by stephen P Robbins
These books are minimum and sufficient for pre and mains…the order of study is same as given here for Pre and mains….however for Pre you should focus on syllabus only…..along with it you can read Vaji Ram & Ravi printed material for PA……
For Psychology:
Though My optionals were PA and Geography, but according to my friends, the suggested books are:
P-1
[1]Baron
[2]NCERT
[3]Ciccarell
[4] Mr Mukul Pathak’s notes [Vaji Ram & Ravi, New Delhi]
P-2
Only Mr Mukul Pathak’s notes and Internet
For Psychology, I think you need to attend his classes….
You can get these materials from respective coaching institutes through postal guidance programme……Regarding myself…you can refer the old postings….further query is welcome…keep blogging….
For Public Administartion :
[1]P-1 Sharma and Sadana
[2] Thinker by Prasad and Prasad
[2] Mohit Bhattacharya
[3] guide by laxmikant [for Pre & Mains]
[4] BL Fadia [P-1 and 2]
[5]P-2 Goyal and Arora
[6]Polity by DD Basu
[7] selected IJPA journal
[8] Regular news paper Hindu and Times of India
[9] Some additional books for Pre [PA]….Nicolas Henry, Kuntz and essentials of organizational behavior by stephen P Robbins
These books are minimum and sufficient for pre and mains…the order of study is same as given here for Pre and mains….however for Pre you should focus on syllabus only…..along with it you can read Vaji Ram & Ravi printed material for PA……
For Psychology:
Though My optionals were PA and Geography, but according to my friends, the suggested books are:
P-1
[1]Baron
[2]NCERT
[3]Ciccarell
[4] Mr Mukul Pathak’s notes [Vaji Ram & Ravi, New Delhi]
P-2
Only Mr Mukul Pathak’s notes and Internet
For Psychology, I think you need to attend his classes….
You can get these materials from respective coaching institutes through postal guidance programme……Regarding myself…you can refer the old postings….further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to Mr/Miss Aaruni Azad
Hello Mr/Miss Aaruni…thanks for your visit on the blog…..Regarding your query….You should take the advantage of being in OBC….you can ask your parents to send you the new OBC certificate…though you can submit the OBC certificate after the mains also…but don’t take risk….The exact cut off for OBC in Pre is not known but it is well below then General category…It is not only the Pre stage where you will be getting benefit but across the stages of the exam, you will get the benefit of OBC….the most important benefit you will get at the time of allocation of service after the final selection….so don’t commit any mistake just for the sake of travelling to your home state which is matter of few hours…..you should fill the form as an OBC and get the given advantage…..don’t worry about the last years failure…give the best effort in CSE-2010 as no. of seats will be high….work hard…good luck…further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to CSE aspirant Mr AMIT-IAS
Hello Mr Amit...thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it…..First of all I would like to congratulate you for thinking beyond the fore wall of a software company….considering your background ,Public administration and Psychology optional will be good for you…as these two optionals have good guidance, study materials, scoring and most important -sufficient gap between these two optionals during mains exam….so go for these optionals….regarding English language…don’t worry about it….I also faced this problem initially but with the time you will improve…..Regarding the coaching availability in Delhi…the best for psychology is Mr Mukul Pathak, Vaji Ram & Ravi…..for Pub ad, you can join Synergy [Mr MK Mohanty] or Mr Minoocha’s classes…..these are the best at this time in the country…no regional centres can match the quality available in Delhi…..you can take study material also from these institutes….Regarding the preparation aspect….several of the candidates have qualified along with the regular job though it will require huge motivation and self discipline……Since, CSE preparation is a bit expensive, you can continue with the job and do preliminary self study….when you are through two optionals and GS, you can take leave or quit the job for one full year to prepare and appear in the exam….the optimum leave you will require is from January to Mid November….as Pre is in May and mains is in oct-Nov…..in this way you can prepare your strategy to crack CSE…..further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Nikhil
Hello Mr Nikhil, thanks for your visit on the blog….regarding allocation to IAS…It depends on the number of vacancies in a particular year and in a particular category as well as the choice indicated by the candidates in their mains exam form….The allocation process is manual but quite rational…..Rank-82 will definitely get IAS [provided He/She has filled it as his/her first choice in mains exam]….further query is welcome….keep blogging…..
Reply to Mr Hindustan
Hello Mr Hindustan,thanks for your visit on the blog…..since you have started your preparation…it is advisable to prepare and study all the topics….later on you can concentrate on the selective topics….few more books you can refer Indian geography by Mr Majid Hussain, geography guide by spectrum, Rupa made easy series [vol-1 & 2]…….further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Finally the Indian Foreign Service Opts for Change
On July 17, I posted an article “Daniel Markey on Developing India’s Foreign Policy Software.” The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) seems to have taken Daniel’s recommendations seriously, though there is no explicit mention of it. In a news report carried in the August 11 edition of The Economic Times, winds of change are sweeping India’s foreign office. The proposed reforms are impressive but any tangible change will depend on genuine and consistent implementation.¼br /> The elite IFS that powers India’s global diplomacy and manages relations with nations is changing. Mid Career training and specialization are the new mantra. Promotions were a matter of aging gracefully, but now even senior diplomats have to prove themselves to move up the career ladder. In a never-before event, 30 joint secretary rank diplomats - or mid-career diplomats - due for promotion were sent to the Indian School of Business, the country’s top business school, at Hyderabad to reorient them to the new challenges of economic diplomacy in a business-driven world. All diplomats starting at the level of directors now have to submit a well-researched paper on one of the subjects relating to India’s foreign policy to graduate to the next step up the ladder. The proposal originated with a report by Satinder Lambah, currently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy to Pakistan, on the reorganization of the foreign office.Lambah recalled a number of recommendations he made for revamping the foreign office, including reorganization of divisions/departments in the ministry, integration of policy planning and research division with think tanks, a more objective and performance-oriented promotion policy and the inspection of missions.“There is no getting away from the reorganization of the service. The process has already started,” Lambah said. Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, building upon the spadework on internal reforms initiated by her predecessors Shivshankar Menon and Shyam Saran, set the tone on the day she took charge by emphasizing that expanding India’s diplomatic capabilities in keeping with its growing global status will top her agenda.The manpower crunch - just 669 diplomats spread across the headquarters in New Delhi, 119 resident missions and 49 consulates - that has hobbled the ministry is now finally being addressed. Last year, the cabinet approved 30 new posts each year over the next decade.To enrich knowledge and expertise, there is a plan to bring in specialists from other ministries on deputation and experts from think tanks to address specific issues like climate change and energy security. Regular consultations with think tanks on specific issues have also become part of the drill.There are also ambitious plans to outsource some of protocol-related work to private agencies to free up diplomats to focus on more substantive policy issues. A part of the passport services has been outsourced to Tata Consultancy Services. Called the Passport Seva Project, it is likely to become operational in Punjab and Bangalore by the end of the year.But while it’s a good beginning to make, the IFS has to act fast on these and more changes if it wants to shepherd India on the world stage with a place on the global high tables, say strategic analysts and former diplomats. Satish Chandra, a former deputy national security adviser and a former envoy to Pakistan, rues the lack of depth of expertise and area specialization among diplomats. There are opportunities for specialization in areas like economic diplomacy, climate change, legal issues and non-proliferation, Chandra said. Above all, there is a compelling need for a mindset change that is in tune with India’s rising global stature and expanding economy. “The present mindset is not of a major role player in the global system. One hopes it will change,” K Subrahmanyam, a strategic analyst, said.
[This Article is Published by Miss Madhavi on August 12, 2009 in Foreign Policy and India]
Source: Email from Mr P.Shankar
[This Article is Published by Miss Madhavi on August 12, 2009 in Foreign Policy and India]
Source: Email from Mr P.Shankar
Why Foreign Policy Matters??
Our choice is clear: we must be globally active if we are to create and maintain the society we want at home. And our success at home is the best guarantee that we will be respected and effective abroad.....Mr. Shashi Tharoor
[Address by minister of state of external affairs at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University on 13 Aug 2009 and Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh on 19th August 2009]
It is indeed a privilege to be addressing you on the subject of “Why Foreign Policy Matters”, and particularly to do so just a few days after our celebrations of the 62nd anniversary of our Independence. At that midnight hour when, in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s memorable words, India awoke to life and freedom, our country was deeply conscious of its international obligations. In his historic speech about India’s “tryst with destiny”, Nehruji, speaking of his country’s dreams, said: “Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.” These words are typical of that great nationalist that a time when the fires of Partition were blazing across the land, he thought not only of India, but of the world. In recalling that spirit 62 years later, I am pleased to see so many internationalist-minded young Indians here today.In those six decades, the world has become even more closely knit together than Nehruji foresaw. Indeed, today I think it is fair to say that even those countries that once felt insulated from external dangers -- by wealth or strength or distance -- now fully realize that the safety of people everywhere depends not only on local security forces, but also on guarding against terrorism; warding off the global spread of pollution, of diseases, of illegal drugs and of weapons of mass destruction; and on promoting human rights, democracy and development.Jobs everywhere, too, depend not only on local firms and factories, but on faraway markets for products and services, on licenses and access from foreign governments, on an international environment that allows the free movement of goods, services, and persons, and on international institutions that ensure stability – in short, on the international system that sustains our globalized world.Today, whether you are a resident of Delhi or Dili, Durban or Darwin, Aligarh or Alabama – whether you are from Noida or New York– it is simply not realistic to think only in terms of your own country. Global forces press in from every conceivable direction. People, goods and ideas cross borders and cover vast distances with ever greater frequency, speed and ease. We are increasingly connected through travel, trade, the Internet; what we watch, what we eat and even the games we play.These benign forces are matched by more malign ones that are equally global. When I was only a few years older than most of you, I began my United Nations career dealing with people without passports, refugees caught in the conflict in Vietnam and Cambodia. In my later career, I learned that these people personified what the United Nations was increasingly called upon to deal with, "problems without passports" — problems that cross all frontiers uninvited, problems of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, of the degradation of our common environment, of contagious disease and chronic starvation, of human rights and human wrongs, of mass illiteracy and massive displacement. Such problems also require solutions that cross all frontiers, since no one country or group of countries can solve them alone.Let us not forget that 9/11 made clear the old cliché about our global village – for it showed that a fire that starts in a remote thatched hut or dusty tent in one corner of that village can melt the steel girders of the tallest skyscrapers at the other end of our global village.In such a world, issues that once seemed very far away are very much in your backyard. What happens in North America or North Africa – from protectionist politics to deforestation and desertification to the fight against AIDS – can affect your lives wherever you live, even here in North India. And your choices here – what you buy, how you vote – can resound far away. As someone once said about water pollution, we all live downstream. We are all interconnected, and we can no longer afford the luxury of not thinking about the rest of the planet in anything we do.Our choice is clear: we must be globally active if we are to create and maintain the society we want at home. And our success at home is the best guarantee that we will be respected and effective abroad.After all, your own lives reflect a variety of global experiences. What does it mean to be a young person in Delhi or Aligarh today? It can mean waking up to an alarm clock made in China, downing a cup of tea from leaves first planted by the British, donning jeans designed in America and taking a Japanese scooter or a Korean car to get to an Indian college, where your textbooks might be printed with German-invented technology on paper first pulped in Sweden. You might call your friends on a Finnish mobile phone to invite them to an Italian pizza or even what you think of as desi khana, featuring naan that came here from Persia, tandoori chicken taught to us by rulers from Uzbekistan and aloo and hari mirch that first came to India only 400 years ago from Latin America. And the most desi thing of all, of course, is suspicion of anything foreign.Suspicion of things foreign has hardly been absent from our own country’s political experience. In India, self-reliance and economic self-sufficiency were a mantra for more than four decades after independence, and there were real doubts as to whether the country should open itself further to the world economy. Whereas in most of the West, most people axiomatically associate capitalism with freedom, India’s nationalists associated capitalism with slavery. Why? Because the British East India Company came to trade and stayed on to rule. So India’s nationalist leaders were suspicious of every foreigner with a briefcase, seeing him as the thin edge of a neo-imperial wedge. Instead of integrating India into the global capitalist system, as only a handful of post-colonial countries like Singapore chose to do, India’s leaders (and those of most of the former colonies) were convinced that the political independence they had fought for so hard and long could only be guaranteed through economic independence. So self-reliance became the slogan, the protectionist barriers went up, and India spent 45 years with bureaucrats rather than businessmen on the “commanding heights” of the economy, often, despite the best of intentions, subsidizing unproductively, regulating stagnation and effectively, if unwittingly, distributing not wealth but poverty. (Which only goes to prove that one of the lessons you learn from history is that history sometimes teaches the wrong lessons?)It was only after a world-class financial crisis in 1991, when our government had to physically ship its reserves of gold to London to stand collateral for an IMF loan, failing which we might have defaulted on our debt, that India liberalized its economy under our then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. Since then we have become a poster-child for globalization. Our growth and prosperity would be impossible without the rest of the world.To the young people here, let me say that you are likely to spend a lot of your adult lives interacting with people who don’t look, sound, dress or eat like you; that you might work for an internationally-oriented company with clients, colleagues or investors from around the globe; and that you are likely to take your holidays in far-flung destinations. The world into which you will grow will be full of such opportunities. But along with such opportunities, you may also find yourself vulnerable to threats from beyond our borders: terrorism, of course, but also transnational crime syndicates, counterfeiters of currency, drug smugglers, child traffickers, Internet spammers, credit-card crooks and even imported illnesses like swine flu.Wouldn’t you want your government to devise policies to deal with such challenges that would affect your, and one day your children’s, lives? Should such policies, in an ever more interdependent world, even be called foreign? One of the reasons that foreign policy matters today are that foreign policy is no longer merely foreign: it affects you right here where you live. You want your government to seize the opportunities that the 21st century world provides, while managing the risks and protecting you from the threats that this world has also opened you up to.Indians therefore have a growing stake in international developments. To put it another way, the food we grow and we eat, the air we breathe, and our health, security, prosperity and quality of life are increasingly affected by what happens beyond our borders. And that means we can simply no longer afford to be indifferent about our neighbours, however distant they may appear. Ignorance is not a shield; it is not even, any longer, an excuse. Knowledge of others, on the other hand, brings great advantages in today’s world.At the same time, much of what we are in the process of accomplishing at home – to pull our people out of poverty and to develop our nation -- enables us to contribute to a better world. This is of value in itself, and it is also in our fundamental national interest. A world that is peaceful and prosperous, where trade is freer and universally-agreed principles are observed, and in which democracy, the co-existence of civilizations and respect for human rights flourish, is a world of opportunity for India and for Indians to thrive.If this century has, in the famous phrase, made the world safe for democracy, the next challenge is to make a world safe for diversity. It is in India’s interest to ensure that the world as a whole must reflect the idea that is already familiar to all Indians — that it shouldn't matter what the colour of your skin is, the kind of food you eat, the sounds you make when you speak, the God you choose to worship (or not), so long as you want to play by the same rules as everybody else, and dream the same dreams. It is not essential in a democratic world to agree all the time, as long as we agree on the ground rules of how we will disagree. These are the global principles we must strive to uphold if we are to be able to continue to uphold them securely at home.Because the distinction between domestic and international is less and less meaningful in today’s world, when we think of foreign policy we must also think of its domestic implications. The ultimate purpose of any country’s foreign policy is to promote the security and well-being of its own citizens. We want a world that gives us the conditions of peace and security that will permit us to grow and flourish, safe from foreign depredations but open to external opportunities.At the same time there is a consensus in our country that India should seek to continue to contribute to international security and prosperity, to a well-ordered and equitable world, and to democratic, sustainable development for all.This we will continue to do, and we will do so in an environment in which change is the only constant. If I may be permitted the indulgence of a personal reminiscence, let me tell you how much my old organization, the UN, has been transformed in the career span of this one former UN official speaking to you. If I had even suggested to my seniors when I joined the Organization in 1978 that the UN would one day observe and even run elections in sovereign states, conduct intrusive inspections for weapons of mass destruction, impose comprehensive sanctions on the entire import-export trade of a Member State, create a counter-terrorism committee to monitor national actions against terrorists, or set up international criminal tribunals and coerce governments into handing over their citizens to be tried by foreigners under international law, I am sure they would have told me that I simply did not understand what the United Nations was all about. (And indeed, since that was in the late 1970s, they might well have asked me – “Young man, what have you been smoking?”)And yet the UN has done every one of those things during the last two decades, and more. It is a reflection of how much the world around has evolved since the era when the Cold War seemed frozen in place, borders seemed immutable, and the Soviet Union looked as if it would last for ever. If all of those things could change so dramatically within one generation, shouldn’t we be better prepared, as a country and a society, for similar changes to happen in the lifetime of your generation?Indeed, the institutions of global governance have been expanding beyond the UN itself. There are selective inter-governmental mechanisms like the G-8, military alliances like NATO, sub-regional groupings like the Economic Community of West African States, one-issue alliances like the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Writers connect under International PEN, soccer players in FIFA, athletes under the International Olympic Committee, mayors in the World Organization of United Cities and Local governments. Bankers listen to the Bank of International Settlements and businessmen to the International Accounting Standards Board. The process of regulating human activity above and beyond national boundaries has never been more widespread.To these elements of international co-operation we must add a veritable alphabet soup of new bodies and new arrangements for multilateral engagement. India alone belongs to IBSA, to BRIC, to SAARC and the East Asian Summit; it is a member of the G-20 and the ARF; it observes the meetings of the SCO and attends the G-8. It pursues its interests in organizations as universal and well-known as the UN and as small and obscure as IOR-ARC.It’s not just multilateral organizations we should think about: the world has changed in other ways too. Today, the smartest executive jets are made by Embraer of Brazil; the tallest building in the world is currently in Dubai, an incomplete structure that has just overtaken the previous tallest building, in Taipei; the world’s biggest plane is being built in Russia and Ukraine; the world’s largest Ferris wheel is in Singapore; the biggest shopping mall is in Beijing; and the country with the largest number of nationals in the Forbes list of the world’s ten richest people is India, with four billionaires whose combined assets, once valued at $180 billion, exceed those of the majority of the member states of the United Nations. Thirty years ago, all these categories would have been headed by the United States. The US remains the world’s sole superpower, but others are catching up fast in various areas where it had alone been dominant.This is the world to which India must learn to adapt. It was Mahatma Gandhi who famously said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” That applies to India too. We seek to redefine our place in a world that has changed from the geopolitical realities of 1945 which shaped the current international system, including the permanent membership of the Security Council. We are today one of the world’s largest economies, a proud player on the global stage with a long record of responsible conduct on international matters. But is our foreign policy apparatus commensurate with the challenge? Is our society as a whole imbued with a consciousness of the strategic opportunity that engagement with the globe offers? Can we be taken seriously as a potential world leader in the 21st century if we do not develop the institutions, the practices, the personnel and the mindset required to lead in the global arena?Our foreign policy debates in Parliament and the media seem obsessed with Pakistan or with ephemera, or worse, ephemera about Pakistan. There is little appetite for an in-depth discussion about, say, the merits of participating in the Non-Aligned Movement or the Conference of Democracies, or the importance we should give to such bodies as SAARC or the Indian Ocean Rim Conference. As Minister of State for External Affairs I suppose I should be grateful, even relieved, at being allowed to get on with foreign policy making without the interference of the general public. But in my view foreign policy is too important an issue to be left to the ministry of External Affairs alone. Our society as a whole, and particularly its educated young people, must care enough about India’s place in the world to participate actively in shaping our international posture.And yet the picture around us is a pretty dismal one. International relations is a neglected subject on our campuses; I have deliberately chosen to speak on this topic at a college/university, which does not offer a course of study in international relations. The few colleges that do offer the subject do so in a formalistic and formulaic fashion that ill-equip the student to understand the realities of our contemporary world. JNU apart, few can hold a candle to the universities in China, Russia or the West that teach international relations to young people of a similar age to the majority of you.We do have a handful of thinkers on international issues and a fistful of think-tanks, but in quantum and quality of expertise and range of output they all have a long way to go before they match the role played by, for example, their equivalents in the United States.And what about the young people so well represented here today, who must shape the future orientation of India to the world? A young Indian scholar, Raja Karthikeya Gundu, recently wrote: “Few Indian students go beyond the West for study, and even if they wanted to, there are barely any scholarships or resources from government or private sector to do so. The average Indian has barely any understanding of foreign cultures, norms and worldviews, and satellite TV and Internet have not managed to change this. Hence, in the absence of global exposure, Indians continue to be an inward-looking nation burdened by prejudice. Thus, it is no surprise that when Indians travel abroad for the first time in their mature years, they are often culturally inadaptable and even mildly xenophobic.” This strikes me as somewhat overstated, and yet there is a kernel of truth in it.The situation will not improve unless we improve the study of international affairs at our colleges and universities. Last year I was invited by my Singaporean friend Kishore Mahbubani to join a gathering organized by his Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, of some of the most eminent scholars of International Relations to brainstorm on improving the current state of the discipline in India. I couldn’t join his effort but one scholar who did, Amitabh Mattoo, observed that “There are few other disciplines in India… where the gulf between the potential and the reality is as wide as it is in the teaching and research of IR at Indian universities. Interest in India and India’s interest in the world are arguably at their highest in modern times, and yet Indian scholarship on global issues is showing few signs of responding to this challenge.”Today, IR is taught in more than 100 universities in India, but in Mattoo’s words, “most of the IR departments have a shortage of qualified faculty, poor infrastructure, outdated curriculum and few research opportunities”. More than half the departments do not even have access to the internet, and are deprived of the rich wealth of online resources that students elsewhere in the world can command. Books and journals are in short supply. Little expertise has been developed in specific areas or countries of concern to India; to take one example, despite all the fuss about the reference to Balochistan in the recent joint statement at Sharm-el Shaikh, there is no major scholar of Baloch studies in India to whom either the MEA or its critics can turn. Foreign languages are poorly taught, resources for study trips abroad are scarce, research is of varying quality and opportunities for cross-fertilization at academic conferences practically non-existent. Whereas China, a latecomer to the field, has already developed, in the last three decades, a critical mass of students and scholars of IR, we are behind where we were in the heady days of the Nehruvian 1950s when we established bodies like Sapru House and the Indian Council of World Affairs which we have allowed to atrophy.My friend Kanti Bajpai has argued that, "Rising powers seem to get the IR they need." But it won't just happen. We need to change the way we all think about international relations: you, the future leaders of this country, and we, its present ones. The MEA is willing to play its part, in collaboration with those responsible for educational policy, to bring about the change I have been calling for.To return to Amitabh Mattoo, he warns, "India's inability to develop a sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of the world outside will have more serious consequences than just the dwarfing of a discipline. It could well stunt India's ability to influence the international system." That is an outcome that, for all the reasons I have described, we can ill afford.Mahatma Gandhi's point about "being the change" applies to my ministry too. Even though my experience of it from within is relatively new, I do believe there are some changes we ourselves can bring about and which I will be advocating in the months ahead. Some specific examples:
As I said earlier, I believe foreign policy is much too important an issue to be left to the foreign ministry alone. Discussion of international relations should not be confined to the seminar rooms in Delhi, and that is why I was delighted on 11th August 2009 to lead a seminar on Indo-Arab relations in Cochin. All Indians, even 2000 kilometers away from the nation’s capital, have a vital stake in the development of our foreign policy. I would welcome much more spirited exchanges between MEA officials and academia, the corporate sector and civil society, in person, through regular meetings and even email, respecting confidentiality but not fighting shy of ideas or opinion that challenges our entrenched mindsets.
Foreign language assignments to IFS officers. I have been struck by how often I have come across Chinese speakers in our consulates in Germany or Anglophone diplomats in France. Surely we can aim at a time when every national language is spoken by at least one Indian officer and an eventual time when every one of our missions is headed by an Ambassador who knows the language, be it Khmer or Korean, Spanish or Swahili.
I have written elsewhere of the need to develop and exploit India’s considerable "soft power", by making this integral to the work of our territorial divisions, rather than leaving it solely to umbrella entities like ICCR and the Public Diplomacy Division. This will mean taking Indian literature, culture, music and dance abroad as an adjunct to Indian diplomacy, and doing so within a context of a coherent public diplomacy strategy that weaves together many institutions that currently function separately.
Recently, we have seen the stirrings of a purposeful debate on whether the IFS exam should be distinct and separate from others in the UPSC. During my days in college, pretty much everyone aimed at the Foreign Service, and the Foreign Service drew exclusively from the top ten finishers in the national competitive examinations. Today, as working abroad for the government has lost some of its allure, this is no longer the case; indeed, for many applicants the IFS is a third or even fourth preference amongst the career options available to those who do well in the exams. I feel strongly that a diplomat should not be someone who fell short of his or her real goal of being an administrator, revenue official or police officer. We need internationalist-minded young Indians who see the chance of serving the country abroad not only as a privilege but as something indispensable to India’s growth and prosperity.
The tragedy of 26/11 confirmed yet again how much greater coordination we need among the many programmes and players in government involved with security and other international issues, and how essential is the modernization of our domestic and international instruments to keep Indians safe. We will have to work harder in government, and with Indians of all walks of life ¡V including business groups interested in foreign markets and in international investors -- to ensure that we break down the ¡§narrow domestic walls¡¨ that Tagore wrote about and promote a coherent, visible Indian approach to the world, backed with sufficient resources to take action and to get our messages across clearly. This will help to ensure that India remains influential on issues of concern in an increasingly competitive world.In other words, the sustainability and success of our international policy depends on both leadership by the government of India and the active involvement of young Indians. The government is committed to protecting and advancing the global citizenship of all of you, but it cannot be done without your strong involvement.The world, I am convinced, is going your way. You are a new, globalized, impatient generation of Indians who rightly refuse to be confined to the limited worldviews of older generations. The horizons of your world are ever widening. The prospects for international engagement, for more widespread prosperity, for more borderless success, have never been brighter. But the world needs your commitment, too.I call upon you all today to commit yourself to thinking about India and the world – about India in the world – and your own role in learning about it, helping to shape it, and one day, I hope, helping to lead it.
Source: Email by Mr P. Shankar
[Address by minister of state of external affairs at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University on 13 Aug 2009 and Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh on 19th August 2009]
It is indeed a privilege to be addressing you on the subject of “Why Foreign Policy Matters”, and particularly to do so just a few days after our celebrations of the 62nd anniversary of our Independence. At that midnight hour when, in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s memorable words, India awoke to life and freedom, our country was deeply conscious of its international obligations. In his historic speech about India’s “tryst with destiny”, Nehruji, speaking of his country’s dreams, said: “Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now and so also is disaster in this One World that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.” These words are typical of that great nationalist that a time when the fires of Partition were blazing across the land, he thought not only of India, but of the world. In recalling that spirit 62 years later, I am pleased to see so many internationalist-minded young Indians here today.In those six decades, the world has become even more closely knit together than Nehruji foresaw. Indeed, today I think it is fair to say that even those countries that once felt insulated from external dangers -- by wealth or strength or distance -- now fully realize that the safety of people everywhere depends not only on local security forces, but also on guarding against terrorism; warding off the global spread of pollution, of diseases, of illegal drugs and of weapons of mass destruction; and on promoting human rights, democracy and development.Jobs everywhere, too, depend not only on local firms and factories, but on faraway markets for products and services, on licenses and access from foreign governments, on an international environment that allows the free movement of goods, services, and persons, and on international institutions that ensure stability – in short, on the international system that sustains our globalized world.Today, whether you are a resident of Delhi or Dili, Durban or Darwin, Aligarh or Alabama – whether you are from Noida or New York– it is simply not realistic to think only in terms of your own country. Global forces press in from every conceivable direction. People, goods and ideas cross borders and cover vast distances with ever greater frequency, speed and ease. We are increasingly connected through travel, trade, the Internet; what we watch, what we eat and even the games we play.These benign forces are matched by more malign ones that are equally global. When I was only a few years older than most of you, I began my United Nations career dealing with people without passports, refugees caught in the conflict in Vietnam and Cambodia. In my later career, I learned that these people personified what the United Nations was increasingly called upon to deal with, "problems without passports" — problems that cross all frontiers uninvited, problems of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, of the degradation of our common environment, of contagious disease and chronic starvation, of human rights and human wrongs, of mass illiteracy and massive displacement. Such problems also require solutions that cross all frontiers, since no one country or group of countries can solve them alone.Let us not forget that 9/11 made clear the old cliché about our global village – for it showed that a fire that starts in a remote thatched hut or dusty tent in one corner of that village can melt the steel girders of the tallest skyscrapers at the other end of our global village.In such a world, issues that once seemed very far away are very much in your backyard. What happens in North America or North Africa – from protectionist politics to deforestation and desertification to the fight against AIDS – can affect your lives wherever you live, even here in North India. And your choices here – what you buy, how you vote – can resound far away. As someone once said about water pollution, we all live downstream. We are all interconnected, and we can no longer afford the luxury of not thinking about the rest of the planet in anything we do.Our choice is clear: we must be globally active if we are to create and maintain the society we want at home. And our success at home is the best guarantee that we will be respected and effective abroad.After all, your own lives reflect a variety of global experiences. What does it mean to be a young person in Delhi or Aligarh today? It can mean waking up to an alarm clock made in China, downing a cup of tea from leaves first planted by the British, donning jeans designed in America and taking a Japanese scooter or a Korean car to get to an Indian college, where your textbooks might be printed with German-invented technology on paper first pulped in Sweden. You might call your friends on a Finnish mobile phone to invite them to an Italian pizza or even what you think of as desi khana, featuring naan that came here from Persia, tandoori chicken taught to us by rulers from Uzbekistan and aloo and hari mirch that first came to India only 400 years ago from Latin America. And the most desi thing of all, of course, is suspicion of anything foreign.Suspicion of things foreign has hardly been absent from our own country’s political experience. In India, self-reliance and economic self-sufficiency were a mantra for more than four decades after independence, and there were real doubts as to whether the country should open itself further to the world economy. Whereas in most of the West, most people axiomatically associate capitalism with freedom, India’s nationalists associated capitalism with slavery. Why? Because the British East India Company came to trade and stayed on to rule. So India’s nationalist leaders were suspicious of every foreigner with a briefcase, seeing him as the thin edge of a neo-imperial wedge. Instead of integrating India into the global capitalist system, as only a handful of post-colonial countries like Singapore chose to do, India’s leaders (and those of most of the former colonies) were convinced that the political independence they had fought for so hard and long could only be guaranteed through economic independence. So self-reliance became the slogan, the protectionist barriers went up, and India spent 45 years with bureaucrats rather than businessmen on the “commanding heights” of the economy, often, despite the best of intentions, subsidizing unproductively, regulating stagnation and effectively, if unwittingly, distributing not wealth but poverty. (Which only goes to prove that one of the lessons you learn from history is that history sometimes teaches the wrong lessons?)It was only after a world-class financial crisis in 1991, when our government had to physically ship its reserves of gold to London to stand collateral for an IMF loan, failing which we might have defaulted on our debt, that India liberalized its economy under our then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh. Since then we have become a poster-child for globalization. Our growth and prosperity would be impossible without the rest of the world.To the young people here, let me say that you are likely to spend a lot of your adult lives interacting with people who don’t look, sound, dress or eat like you; that you might work for an internationally-oriented company with clients, colleagues or investors from around the globe; and that you are likely to take your holidays in far-flung destinations. The world into which you will grow will be full of such opportunities. But along with such opportunities, you may also find yourself vulnerable to threats from beyond our borders: terrorism, of course, but also transnational crime syndicates, counterfeiters of currency, drug smugglers, child traffickers, Internet spammers, credit-card crooks and even imported illnesses like swine flu.Wouldn’t you want your government to devise policies to deal with such challenges that would affect your, and one day your children’s, lives? Should such policies, in an ever more interdependent world, even be called foreign? One of the reasons that foreign policy matters today are that foreign policy is no longer merely foreign: it affects you right here where you live. You want your government to seize the opportunities that the 21st century world provides, while managing the risks and protecting you from the threats that this world has also opened you up to.Indians therefore have a growing stake in international developments. To put it another way, the food we grow and we eat, the air we breathe, and our health, security, prosperity and quality of life are increasingly affected by what happens beyond our borders. And that means we can simply no longer afford to be indifferent about our neighbours, however distant they may appear. Ignorance is not a shield; it is not even, any longer, an excuse. Knowledge of others, on the other hand, brings great advantages in today’s world.At the same time, much of what we are in the process of accomplishing at home – to pull our people out of poverty and to develop our nation -- enables us to contribute to a better world. This is of value in itself, and it is also in our fundamental national interest. A world that is peaceful and prosperous, where trade is freer and universally-agreed principles are observed, and in which democracy, the co-existence of civilizations and respect for human rights flourish, is a world of opportunity for India and for Indians to thrive.If this century has, in the famous phrase, made the world safe for democracy, the next challenge is to make a world safe for diversity. It is in India’s interest to ensure that the world as a whole must reflect the idea that is already familiar to all Indians — that it shouldn't matter what the colour of your skin is, the kind of food you eat, the sounds you make when you speak, the God you choose to worship (or not), so long as you want to play by the same rules as everybody else, and dream the same dreams. It is not essential in a democratic world to agree all the time, as long as we agree on the ground rules of how we will disagree. These are the global principles we must strive to uphold if we are to be able to continue to uphold them securely at home.Because the distinction between domestic and international is less and less meaningful in today’s world, when we think of foreign policy we must also think of its domestic implications. The ultimate purpose of any country’s foreign policy is to promote the security and well-being of its own citizens. We want a world that gives us the conditions of peace and security that will permit us to grow and flourish, safe from foreign depredations but open to external opportunities.At the same time there is a consensus in our country that India should seek to continue to contribute to international security and prosperity, to a well-ordered and equitable world, and to democratic, sustainable development for all.This we will continue to do, and we will do so in an environment in which change is the only constant. If I may be permitted the indulgence of a personal reminiscence, let me tell you how much my old organization, the UN, has been transformed in the career span of this one former UN official speaking to you. If I had even suggested to my seniors when I joined the Organization in 1978 that the UN would one day observe and even run elections in sovereign states, conduct intrusive inspections for weapons of mass destruction, impose comprehensive sanctions on the entire import-export trade of a Member State, create a counter-terrorism committee to monitor national actions against terrorists, or set up international criminal tribunals and coerce governments into handing over their citizens to be tried by foreigners under international law, I am sure they would have told me that I simply did not understand what the United Nations was all about. (And indeed, since that was in the late 1970s, they might well have asked me – “Young man, what have you been smoking?”)And yet the UN has done every one of those things during the last two decades, and more. It is a reflection of how much the world around has evolved since the era when the Cold War seemed frozen in place, borders seemed immutable, and the Soviet Union looked as if it would last for ever. If all of those things could change so dramatically within one generation, shouldn’t we be better prepared, as a country and a society, for similar changes to happen in the lifetime of your generation?Indeed, the institutions of global governance have been expanding beyond the UN itself. There are selective inter-governmental mechanisms like the G-8, military alliances like NATO, sub-regional groupings like the Economic Community of West African States, one-issue alliances like the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Writers connect under International PEN, soccer players in FIFA, athletes under the International Olympic Committee, mayors in the World Organization of United Cities and Local governments. Bankers listen to the Bank of International Settlements and businessmen to the International Accounting Standards Board. The process of regulating human activity above and beyond national boundaries has never been more widespread.To these elements of international co-operation we must add a veritable alphabet soup of new bodies and new arrangements for multilateral engagement. India alone belongs to IBSA, to BRIC, to SAARC and the East Asian Summit; it is a member of the G-20 and the ARF; it observes the meetings of the SCO and attends the G-8. It pursues its interests in organizations as universal and well-known as the UN and as small and obscure as IOR-ARC.It’s not just multilateral organizations we should think about: the world has changed in other ways too. Today, the smartest executive jets are made by Embraer of Brazil; the tallest building in the world is currently in Dubai, an incomplete structure that has just overtaken the previous tallest building, in Taipei; the world’s biggest plane is being built in Russia and Ukraine; the world’s largest Ferris wheel is in Singapore; the biggest shopping mall is in Beijing; and the country with the largest number of nationals in the Forbes list of the world’s ten richest people is India, with four billionaires whose combined assets, once valued at $180 billion, exceed those of the majority of the member states of the United Nations. Thirty years ago, all these categories would have been headed by the United States. The US remains the world’s sole superpower, but others are catching up fast in various areas where it had alone been dominant.This is the world to which India must learn to adapt. It was Mahatma Gandhi who famously said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” That applies to India too. We seek to redefine our place in a world that has changed from the geopolitical realities of 1945 which shaped the current international system, including the permanent membership of the Security Council. We are today one of the world’s largest economies, a proud player on the global stage with a long record of responsible conduct on international matters. But is our foreign policy apparatus commensurate with the challenge? Is our society as a whole imbued with a consciousness of the strategic opportunity that engagement with the globe offers? Can we be taken seriously as a potential world leader in the 21st century if we do not develop the institutions, the practices, the personnel and the mindset required to lead in the global arena?Our foreign policy debates in Parliament and the media seem obsessed with Pakistan or with ephemera, or worse, ephemera about Pakistan. There is little appetite for an in-depth discussion about, say, the merits of participating in the Non-Aligned Movement or the Conference of Democracies, or the importance we should give to such bodies as SAARC or the Indian Ocean Rim Conference. As Minister of State for External Affairs I suppose I should be grateful, even relieved, at being allowed to get on with foreign policy making without the interference of the general public. But in my view foreign policy is too important an issue to be left to the ministry of External Affairs alone. Our society as a whole, and particularly its educated young people, must care enough about India’s place in the world to participate actively in shaping our international posture.And yet the picture around us is a pretty dismal one. International relations is a neglected subject on our campuses; I have deliberately chosen to speak on this topic at a college/university, which does not offer a course of study in international relations. The few colleges that do offer the subject do so in a formalistic and formulaic fashion that ill-equip the student to understand the realities of our contemporary world. JNU apart, few can hold a candle to the universities in China, Russia or the West that teach international relations to young people of a similar age to the majority of you.We do have a handful of thinkers on international issues and a fistful of think-tanks, but in quantum and quality of expertise and range of output they all have a long way to go before they match the role played by, for example, their equivalents in the United States.And what about the young people so well represented here today, who must shape the future orientation of India to the world? A young Indian scholar, Raja Karthikeya Gundu, recently wrote: “Few Indian students go beyond the West for study, and even if they wanted to, there are barely any scholarships or resources from government or private sector to do so. The average Indian has barely any understanding of foreign cultures, norms and worldviews, and satellite TV and Internet have not managed to change this. Hence, in the absence of global exposure, Indians continue to be an inward-looking nation burdened by prejudice. Thus, it is no surprise that when Indians travel abroad for the first time in their mature years, they are often culturally inadaptable and even mildly xenophobic.” This strikes me as somewhat overstated, and yet there is a kernel of truth in it.The situation will not improve unless we improve the study of international affairs at our colleges and universities. Last year I was invited by my Singaporean friend Kishore Mahbubani to join a gathering organized by his Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, of some of the most eminent scholars of International Relations to brainstorm on improving the current state of the discipline in India. I couldn’t join his effort but one scholar who did, Amitabh Mattoo, observed that “There are few other disciplines in India… where the gulf between the potential and the reality is as wide as it is in the teaching and research of IR at Indian universities. Interest in India and India’s interest in the world are arguably at their highest in modern times, and yet Indian scholarship on global issues is showing few signs of responding to this challenge.”Today, IR is taught in more than 100 universities in India, but in Mattoo’s words, “most of the IR departments have a shortage of qualified faculty, poor infrastructure, outdated curriculum and few research opportunities”. More than half the departments do not even have access to the internet, and are deprived of the rich wealth of online resources that students elsewhere in the world can command. Books and journals are in short supply. Little expertise has been developed in specific areas or countries of concern to India; to take one example, despite all the fuss about the reference to Balochistan in the recent joint statement at Sharm-el Shaikh, there is no major scholar of Baloch studies in India to whom either the MEA or its critics can turn. Foreign languages are poorly taught, resources for study trips abroad are scarce, research is of varying quality and opportunities for cross-fertilization at academic conferences practically non-existent. Whereas China, a latecomer to the field, has already developed, in the last three decades, a critical mass of students and scholars of IR, we are behind where we were in the heady days of the Nehruvian 1950s when we established bodies like Sapru House and the Indian Council of World Affairs which we have allowed to atrophy.My friend Kanti Bajpai has argued that, "Rising powers seem to get the IR they need." But it won't just happen. We need to change the way we all think about international relations: you, the future leaders of this country, and we, its present ones. The MEA is willing to play its part, in collaboration with those responsible for educational policy, to bring about the change I have been calling for.To return to Amitabh Mattoo, he warns, "India's inability to develop a sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of the world outside will have more serious consequences than just the dwarfing of a discipline. It could well stunt India's ability to influence the international system." That is an outcome that, for all the reasons I have described, we can ill afford.Mahatma Gandhi's point about "being the change" applies to my ministry too. Even though my experience of it from within is relatively new, I do believe there are some changes we ourselves can bring about and which I will be advocating in the months ahead. Some specific examples:
As I said earlier, I believe foreign policy is much too important an issue to be left to the foreign ministry alone. Discussion of international relations should not be confined to the seminar rooms in Delhi, and that is why I was delighted on 11th August 2009 to lead a seminar on Indo-Arab relations in Cochin. All Indians, even 2000 kilometers away from the nation’s capital, have a vital stake in the development of our foreign policy. I would welcome much more spirited exchanges between MEA officials and academia, the corporate sector and civil society, in person, through regular meetings and even email, respecting confidentiality but not fighting shy of ideas or opinion that challenges our entrenched mindsets.
Foreign language assignments to IFS officers. I have been struck by how often I have come across Chinese speakers in our consulates in Germany or Anglophone diplomats in France. Surely we can aim at a time when every national language is spoken by at least one Indian officer and an eventual time when every one of our missions is headed by an Ambassador who knows the language, be it Khmer or Korean, Spanish or Swahili.
I have written elsewhere of the need to develop and exploit India’s considerable "soft power", by making this integral to the work of our territorial divisions, rather than leaving it solely to umbrella entities like ICCR and the Public Diplomacy Division. This will mean taking Indian literature, culture, music and dance abroad as an adjunct to Indian diplomacy, and doing so within a context of a coherent public diplomacy strategy that weaves together many institutions that currently function separately.
Recently, we have seen the stirrings of a purposeful debate on whether the IFS exam should be distinct and separate from others in the UPSC. During my days in college, pretty much everyone aimed at the Foreign Service, and the Foreign Service drew exclusively from the top ten finishers in the national competitive examinations. Today, as working abroad for the government has lost some of its allure, this is no longer the case; indeed, for many applicants the IFS is a third or even fourth preference amongst the career options available to those who do well in the exams. I feel strongly that a diplomat should not be someone who fell short of his or her real goal of being an administrator, revenue official or police officer. We need internationalist-minded young Indians who see the chance of serving the country abroad not only as a privilege but as something indispensable to India’s growth and prosperity.
The tragedy of 26/11 confirmed yet again how much greater coordination we need among the many programmes and players in government involved with security and other international issues, and how essential is the modernization of our domestic and international instruments to keep Indians safe. We will have to work harder in government, and with Indians of all walks of life ¡V including business groups interested in foreign markets and in international investors -- to ensure that we break down the ¡§narrow domestic walls¡¨ that Tagore wrote about and promote a coherent, visible Indian approach to the world, backed with sufficient resources to take action and to get our messages across clearly. This will help to ensure that India remains influential on issues of concern in an increasingly competitive world.In other words, the sustainability and success of our international policy depends on both leadership by the government of India and the active involvement of young Indians. The government is committed to protecting and advancing the global citizenship of all of you, but it cannot be done without your strong involvement.The world, I am convinced, is going your way. You are a new, globalized, impatient generation of Indians who rightly refuse to be confined to the limited worldviews of older generations. The horizons of your world are ever widening. The prospects for international engagement, for more widespread prosperity, for more borderless success, have never been brighter. But the world needs your commitment, too.I call upon you all today to commit yourself to thinking about India and the world – about India in the world – and your own role in learning about it, helping to shape it, and one day, I hope, helping to lead it.
Source: Email by Mr P. Shankar
Reply to Mr P. Shankar
Hello Mr P.Shankar, thanks for your visit on the blog….regarding the source of GS…I suggest you to not to search unconventional sources because it will waste your time and energy…Go for conventional sources onnly as successful candidates have dependent on these sources only…Though Internet is a good source of information but at the same time it is ‘information over load’ too which is a big ‘NO’ for any serious CSE aspirants…you need to understand the need of the exam to qualify…you need not be a topper in PRE….you need to qualify it…so I will suggest that you should depend on conventional sources e.g. India year book,Manorma,NCERT etc….regarding questions in CSE-09 pre…there will always be some questions which may not be available in conventional sources….some of these questions are better left unanswered….though you can get some answers from Atlas,Manorma GK part,Lucent GK ,Tata Macgraw GK or spectrum GK….in any case you can qualify in Pre by attempting 75 Q. in GS and optional…so no need to worry about some very tough questions….your benefit to effort ratio should be balanced…this way you can save your energy with guaranteed success….regarding preference to IFS, it is indeed a highly coveted service which provides excellent career opportunities,stay abroad,good working environment,high level contacts,money ,etc…but it depends on individual choice…if you want highly sophisticated and elite life style, you can go for it… many candidates are not opting for it due to it’s maximum career is away from home land, no touch with common people ,etc which is very much a part of IAS and IPS….so it is not the fault of service as such but it is a matter of individual choice…..The seats for IFS is bound to increase in near future due to growing clout of India in international affairs…….further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Rahul Pandey
Hello Mr Rahul Pandey, thanks for your visit on the blog…..India year book is being published in the month of January every year….It is good that you have e-edition of India year book….you can read all the chapters because the changes are very minimal….The only changes are the inclusion of new programmes,policies and facts related with economy…..so once you finish it this year itself, you will take very less time next year to read the whole book for you will be required to update only new facts….further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Hindustan
Hello Mr Hindustan, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words……It is true that every one needs to attend FC after the final selection….till this year, one can take exemption from FC if he/she wants to appear in next successive CSE…but 2010 onwards, to attend FC is going to be compulsory….no exemption will be given to any body….regarding the help in optionals, I had public administration and geography in CSE, so I can help you in geography only…..but shortly I am trying to engage experts from other optionals to guide the aspirants …..further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Reply to Mr P. Shankar
Hello Mr P.Shankar, thanks for your visit on the blog and kinds about it….regarding your query, I don’t have much information regarding the training schedule of Assistant commandant…you can refer the notification issued by UPSC…you can also visit the websites of the respective force for the detailed programme….regarding the ranking, generally Candidates prefer CISF due to more stable job profile….further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Hindustan
Hello Mr Hindustan thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it….regarding your query….Read India year book fully at least once in your life time….in Manorama you can refer only GK section….regarding the number of questions….for a safe entry in to Pre, you should target 75 questions in both..though it can vary year to year depending on the level of difficulty and number of vacancies….Regarding the quality output…..You should take break after every one hour of study….go for meditation and enjoy whatever you study.
The term ’FC’ mentioned in previous postings stands for foundation course…It isa four month training programme being conducted by Department of personnel [Dopt] for all those selected by UPSC through CSE in a single year…The main motto behind FC is to increase the coordination among all the services….this year it is being conducted at LBSNAA,Mussorie,Bhopal and Hyderabad due to large numbers..Usually it is being conducted at LBSNAA,Mussorie….. further query is welcome…keep blogging….
The term ’FC’ mentioned in previous postings stands for foundation course…It isa four month training programme being conducted by Department of personnel [Dopt] for all those selected by UPSC through CSE in a single year…The main motto behind FC is to increase the coordination among all the services….this year it is being conducted at LBSNAA,Mussorie,Bhopal and Hyderabad due to large numbers..Usually it is being conducted at LBSNAA,Mussorie….. further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Reply to Mr Rahul Pandey
Hello Mr Rahul Pandey, thanks for your visit on the blog….regarding your query…I have already mentioned in my previous reply that you must refer previous years Q. papers to get an idea about what to study and not to study….still I will elaborate a bit further:
For Pre:
[1] Purchase topic wise Q paper analysis published by Wizard
[2] History-read full NCERT[old edition] of 11th and 12th
[3] Geography NCERT from 6th to 12th
[4]Polity refer DD Basu or Polity by Mr Laxmikant
[5]Economics by Prtiyogita Darpan special issue
[6] India year book full
[7]Manorma year book only GK part
[8]Chronical current and news bytes
For Mains:
[1] Standard coaching notes
[2]History by Spectrum publication
[3]Geography-NCERT enough
[4] Coaching notes and Pratiyogita darpan special issue
[5]Current-chronicle and wizard final issue
[6] yojana important articles
[7]statistics NCERT 11th and 12th
[8]Polity DD Basu or By Laxmikant
Good luck for CSE-2010…further query is welcome…keep blogging….
For Pre:
[1] Purchase topic wise Q paper analysis published by Wizard
[2] History-read full NCERT[old edition] of 11th and 12th
[3] Geography NCERT from 6th to 12th
[4]Polity refer DD Basu or Polity by Mr Laxmikant
[5]Economics by Prtiyogita Darpan special issue
[6] India year book full
[7]Manorma year book only GK part
[8]Chronical current and news bytes
For Mains:
[1] Standard coaching notes
[2]History by Spectrum publication
[3]Geography-NCERT enough
[4] Coaching notes and Pratiyogita darpan special issue
[5]Current-chronicle and wizard final issue
[6] yojana important articles
[7]statistics NCERT 11th and 12th
[8]Polity DD Basu or By Laxmikant
Good luck for CSE-2010…further query is welcome…keep blogging….
Social work by ‘Jeevothaan foundation’ , a National NGO….A good work by socially committed Citizens
Jeevothaan Foundation , a National NGO formed by some socially sensitive and committed citizens, is doing a good work in the country side…It has started awareness campaign on various issues e.g. RTI Act, Environmental issues, legal rights, etc….this NGO has setup
a free library for the students where one can have the access of the books from myriad of fields free of cost…..The RTI campaign and workshops conducted by ‘Jeevothaan’ is creating huge awareness among the rural masses….As per the information received by ‘Neutralviews’ …’Jeevothaan’ is going to conduct seminars in Lucknow and other places on ‘fake currency menace’ being faced by India…..In the era of democratic socialism, civil society is very important player in policy formulation as well as its spread among common citizenry of the country….Though, in India, there is a huge surge of NGO activities, pressure groups movements but unfortunately some of these groups have been found as the money making machine and the fountain head of corruption…..in the present milieu of hard core materialism and individualism, it is difficult [not impossible] to maintain integrity and honesty in one’s Endeavour….Neutralviews hopes that ‘Jeevothaan’ will stand the test of the time and maintain the highest degree of integrity in the implementation of its stated objectives…..Neutralviews wish the team management of 'Jeevothaan' a good luck for their effort on national building….Jeeevothaan can be reached at http://jeevothaan.yolasite.com
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Reply to Mr P.shankar
Hello Mr P.shankar, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it’s usefulness….regarding your query, I will reply accordingly:
[1] The issue of individual cut off is highly debatable and nobody sure about the exact method employed by UPSC…..but as far as I can understand the system, It is not individual cut off but over all cut off [optional + GS] which is being taken in to consideration….this means optional wise merit list is being prepared with a fix ratio for each optional….i.e. if ratio is 1:20 then in one optional if 20 candidates are appearing in PT ,then only one will qualify for mains, if 100 appearing then 5 will qualify for mains….It is a mere logical guess work …the exact method, nobody knows except UPSC.
[2] In CSE-09,Sociology paper was relatively easy so merit must be very high…I don’t know the exact cut off…but in your case your GS score was very poor…you should have attempted minimum 55 for the selection.
[3]The training aspect of Assistant commandant is good….since it is also group ‘A’ service so pay and other perks are also similar to any other group’A’ service including IPS…but it’s scope is limited as compared to IPS as you will be allotted a particular field i.e. CISF or ITBP, etc at the time of selection…Earlier the selection of Assistant commandant was done through CSE exam only.
[4]the number of Vacancies are always a temporal phenomena….It is high in recent years and will be so for few more years to come…then afterwards it is bound to decrease….further query is welcome….keep blogging….
[1] The issue of individual cut off is highly debatable and nobody sure about the exact method employed by UPSC…..but as far as I can understand the system, It is not individual cut off but over all cut off [optional + GS] which is being taken in to consideration….this means optional wise merit list is being prepared with a fix ratio for each optional….i.e. if ratio is 1:20 then in one optional if 20 candidates are appearing in PT ,then only one will qualify for mains, if 100 appearing then 5 will qualify for mains….It is a mere logical guess work …the exact method, nobody knows except UPSC.
[2] In CSE-09,Sociology paper was relatively easy so merit must be very high…I don’t know the exact cut off…but in your case your GS score was very poor…you should have attempted minimum 55 for the selection.
[3]The training aspect of Assistant commandant is good….since it is also group ‘A’ service so pay and other perks are also similar to any other group’A’ service including IPS…but it’s scope is limited as compared to IPS as you will be allotted a particular field i.e. CISF or ITBP, etc at the time of selection…Earlier the selection of Assistant commandant was done through CSE exam only.
[4]the number of Vacancies are always a temporal phenomena….It is high in recent years and will be so for few more years to come…then afterwards it is bound to decrease….further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Reply to Mr P.shankar
Hello Mr P.shankar, thanks for your visit on the blog and kind words about it’s usefulness….regarding your query, I will reply accordingly:
[1] The issue of individual cut off is highly debatable and nobody sure about the exact method employed by UPSC…..but as far as I can understand the system, It is not individual cut off but over all cut off [optional + GS] which is being taken in to consideration….this means optional wise merit list is being prepared with a fix ratio for each optional….i.e. if ratio is 1:20 then in one optional if 20 candidates are appearing in PT ,then only one will qualify for mains, if 100 appearing then 5 will qualify for mains….It is a mere logical guess work …the exact method, nobody knows except UPSC.
[2] In CSE-09,Sociology paper was relatively easy so merit must be very high…I don’t know the exact cut off…but in your case your GS score was very poor…you should have attempted minimum 55 for the selection.
[3]The training aspect of Assistant commandant is good….since it is also group ‘A’ service so pay and other perks are also similar to any other group’A’ service including IPS…but it’s scope is limited as compared to IPS as you will be allotted a particular field i.e. CISF or ITBP, etc at the time of selection…Earlier the selection of Assistant commandant was done through CSE exam only.
[4]the number of Vacancies are always a temporal phenomena….It is high in recent years and will be so for few more years to come…then afterwards it is bound to decrease….further query is welcome….keep blogging….
[1] The issue of individual cut off is highly debatable and nobody sure about the exact method employed by UPSC…..but as far as I can understand the system, It is not individual cut off but over all cut off [optional + GS] which is being taken in to consideration….this means optional wise merit list is being prepared with a fix ratio for each optional….i.e. if ratio is 1:20 then in one optional if 20 candidates are appearing in PT ,then only one will qualify for mains, if 100 appearing then 5 will qualify for mains….It is a mere logical guess work …the exact method, nobody knows except UPSC.
[2] In CSE-09,Sociology paper was relatively easy so merit must be very high…I don’t know the exact cut off…but in your case your GS score was very poor…you should have attempted minimum 55 for the selection.
[3]The training aspect of Assistant commandant is good….since it is also group ‘A’ service so pay and other perks are also similar to any other group’A’ service including IPS…but it’s scope is limited as compared to IPS as you will be allotted a particular field i.e. CISF or ITBP, etc at the time of selection…Earlier the selection of Assistant commandant was done through CSE exam only.
[4]the number of Vacancies are always a temporal phenomena….It is high in recent years and will be so for few more years to come…then afterwards it is bound to decrease….further query is welcome….keep blogging….
Monday, September 7, 2009
Reply to Mr Rahul Pandey and Mr/Miss Anonymous
Hello Mr Rahul Pandey and Mr/Miss Anonymous,thanks for your visits on the blog….I will reply to your queries one by one as follows:
Reply to Mr Rahul Pandey : You can finish traditional part of GS for mains e.g. History,Polity,Geography,Sc & Tech,Social Issues,Economy and Statistics this year itself till December or January 2010…you can read basic NCERT books on these subjects…then you can take help of any coaching class notes e.g. Vaji Ram & Ravi, Interactions or Sri Ram’s….trace the news paper properly for the current affairs…read atleast one magazine e.g. Chronicle or Wizard or Prtiyogita Darpan,etc…you should read Yojana also….rest of the things you can prepare in the year of mains….regarding Prelims…..the mains preparation will definitely help you in it….for PT you need to go through India Year book, Manorama year book….if you are good in maths,you can master over quantitative also…along with GS,your optional paper is very important…so thoroughly prepare your optional from January onwards from PT angle…you should refer previous years question paper of GS and Optionals regularly..this will give you incite regarding the level of difficulty and the way UPSC frame the questions…. further query is welcome….keep blogging…
Reply to Mr/Miss Anonymous : You need not send the descriptive rolls to FC training academy….you can fax the letter to Dopt mentioning your CSE-2009 roll number and intention to appear in CSE-09 mains…that is enough…..you have to fill descriptive rolls at the time of joining your respective academy separately....so don't worry about it....good luck for the CSE-2009…further query is welcome…keep blogging…..
Reply to Mr Rahul Pandey : You can finish traditional part of GS for mains e.g. History,Polity,Geography,Sc & Tech,Social Issues,Economy and Statistics this year itself till December or January 2010…you can read basic NCERT books on these subjects…then you can take help of any coaching class notes e.g. Vaji Ram & Ravi, Interactions or Sri Ram’s….trace the news paper properly for the current affairs…read atleast one magazine e.g. Chronicle or Wizard or Prtiyogita Darpan,etc…you should read Yojana also….rest of the things you can prepare in the year of mains….regarding Prelims…..the mains preparation will definitely help you in it….for PT you need to go through India Year book, Manorama year book….if you are good in maths,you can master over quantitative also…along with GS,your optional paper is very important…so thoroughly prepare your optional from January onwards from PT angle…you should refer previous years question paper of GS and Optionals regularly..this will give you incite regarding the level of difficulty and the way UPSC frame the questions…. further query is welcome….keep blogging…
Reply to Mr/Miss Anonymous : You need not send the descriptive rolls to FC training academy….you can fax the letter to Dopt mentioning your CSE-2009 roll number and intention to appear in CSE-09 mains…that is enough…..you have to fill descriptive rolls at the time of joining your respective academy separately....so don't worry about it....good luck for the CSE-2009…further query is welcome…keep blogging…..
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