trainee5's blog

Gist of The Hindu: January 2022

Gist of The Hindu: JANUARY 2022

Model Retail Outlet Scheme

  • Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited announced the launch of Model Retail Outlet Scheme and a Digital Customer Feedback Program called Darpan@petrolpump.

About:

  • Three oil PSU’s have joined hands to launch Model Retail Outlets to enhance service standards and amenities, across their networks, which serve over 6 Crores consumers everyday.
  • In order to keep pace with the rapidly changing consumer behavior and a view to offer a heightened customer experience in retail outlets, Oil Marketing Companies aim to benchmark Retail Outlet standards for ensuring standardized customer facilities through these initiatives.
  • The scheme involves an intense 5 Level evaluation process of over 70000 retail outlets in the country on a set of core service and facility parameters as well as standard of customer amenities e.g., clean and hygienic washrooms, customer centric innovative offerings etc. 
  • The Retail Outlets have been divided into 4 categories based on sales performance, facilities offered and their percentage of digital transactions at the point of sale in keeping with the Digital India imperative.

BBV154

  • Bharat Bio completes Phase II trial of intranasal Covid vaccine-name- BBV154.
  • It is a novel adenovirus vectored.

Benefits:

  • Other vaccines only produce antibodies, Intranasal vaccine produce antibodies as well as reduce risk of transmission.
  • Easy delivery- cut down syringe, needles etc.
  • Additional immune response- addition to the immunity in blood, it activates immunity of the cells founds in the tissues lining the nose and mouth and lungs.
  • Only small volume typically 0.1 ml will be required.

Barbados

  • Nearly 400 years after the country became a British colony, Barbados has become the world’s newest republic. 
  • The Caribbean island nation removed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the state in a ceremony attended by Prince Charles.

Who took over as the new head of Barbados?

  • Dame Sandra Prunella Mason, who was selected to become the first president of Barbados last month, took over as the President of the country. 
  • There are no plans to change the flags, coat of arms, national pledge or national anthem.
  •  However, the terms “royal” and “crown” would be dropped from all official references. 
  • Hence, Royal Barbados Police Force will become Barbados Police Force and crown lands would become state lands.

History of Barbados as a British colony and after:

  • Barbados, which is said to have been made a ‘slave society’ by the British, first became an English colony when a ship arrived at the Caribbean in 1625. 
  • On November 30, 1966, Barbados gained its independence. Barbados, however, will continue to be one of the 54 Commonwealth nations.

​​​​​​​Great Green Wall Programme

  • Great Green Wall (GGW) is an African-led initiative with the UN Convention to combat desertification as a key partner. 
  • It aims to restore the degraded landscapes of the Sahel from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the East (11 countries).
  • According to the FAO, for every dollar invested into land restoration, through the GGW programme, yields investors can expect an average return of$1.20.
  • Once complete, the GGW will be the largest living structure on the planet, 3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Green​​​​​​​ cement

  • After presenting its Concrete Future 2050 roadmap for net-zero concrete at the Glasgow meet, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) now has to act on its commitment.

Key highlights: 

  • The global industry body says it has already made proportionate reductions of 20 per cent in carbon dioxide emissions in cement production over the last three decades. 
  • The roadmap envisages an acceleration of decarbonisation to achieve the same reduction in just a decade.
  • It outlines proportionate reduction of 25 per cent in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 to achieve full decarbonisation by mid-century. 
  • The roadmap actions between now and 2030 will prevent almost 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

About:

  • Green cement is an environmentally friendly product that minimizes the carbon footprint of cement production.
  • It is energy-efficient, incorporates low carbon production methods, new cement
    formulations, geopolymers, carbon-negative cements, and new concrete products.
  • Its production reduces cement intake, and its major raw materials include discarded industrial wastes like blast furnace slag and fly ash.

Type 1  Diabetes

  • Astern cell-based treatment for Type 1 Diabetes gives a promising result.

About:

  • Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.
  • Insulin is a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy.
  • Different factors, including genetics and some viruses, may contribute to type 1 diabetes.
  • Although type 1 diabetes usually appears during childhood or adolescence, it can develop in adults.
  • Until now, type 1 diabetes has no cure.

Springshed Management In the Indian HimalayanRegion

  • NITI aayog has released a resource book for Springshed Management in the Indian HimalayanRegion.
  • Springshed management (SM) deals with revival and conservation of Himalayan Mountain Springs as they play a key role in providing water security to mountain communities.

Key highlights:

  • A National Springs Mission (NSM) will facilitate the improved coordination, efficient execution, and scaling up of springshed management initiatives in India. 
  • It can consolidate, converge and synergize the learnings and experiences of state government agencies, CSOs, and other stakeholders under one umbrella and help develop national or regional-level decision support systems for existing and upcoming practitioners.
  • Creating a national digital database on spring-related data collected by various agencies will improve ease of access and academic research. 
  • In addition, the data can be integrated into an online portal and facilitate open access sharing for all stakeholders, including the local communities.
  • Creating new and support for existing, state and national-level science-policy-practice consortiums will facilitate experience sharing, complementary knowledge generation, transfer, and capacity building of all stakeholders.

Draft Notaries(Amendment) Bill

  • The government proposes to amend the Notaries Act to restrict the number of terms a person can practise as a notary to allow more young legal practitioners enter the field.

Other provisions include:

  • Power to suspend the certificate of practice in cases of professional misconduct by the appropriate government for conduct of inquiry
  • Digitise notarial work undertaken by notaries.
  • The Notaries Act, 1952 was enacted to regulate the profession of notaries.
  • It empowers the Central government as well as State governments to appoint notaries who possess the prescribed qualifications.

Curtain  Raiser PANEX-21

  • A Curtain Raiser Event for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise, PANEX-21, for the member nations of BIMSTEC countries, was held at Kothari Auditorium DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi on 07 Dec 2021. 

About:

  • The exercise is planned to be conducted from 20-22 Dec 21 at Pune and will witness participation from subject matter experts and delegates from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
  • It aims to all the delegates of the member states to the event and urged them to utilize this opportunity to develop mechanisms for close transnational coordination to combat contingencies like the Pandemic in the future.  
  • It is also highlighted the importance of drawing Common Legal Frameworks and setting up Information Sharing Mechanism to facilitate defence cooperation between security and judicial agencies of the member nations.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FULL PDF

This is Only Sample Material, To Get Full Materials Buy The Gist 1 Year Subscription - "Only PDF" Click Here

Click Here to Download More Free Sample Material 

UPSC IAS (Pre.) Exam 2022 Notification Released (Last Date: 22nd Feb, 2022)

IAS EXAM

UPSC IAS (Pre.) Exam 2022 Notification Released

1. CANDIDATES TO ENSURE THEIR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE EXAMINATION:

All candidates (male/female/transgender) are requested to carefully read the Rules of Civil Services Examination notified by the Government (Department of Personnel and Training) and this Notice of Examination derived from these Rules. The Candidates applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfill all eligibility conditions for admission to examination. Their admission to all the stages of the examination will be purely provisional subject to satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions. Mere issue of e-Admit Card to the candidate will not imply that his/her candidature has been finally cleared by the Commission. The Commission takes up verification of eligibility conditions with reference to original documents only after the candidate has qualified for Interview/Personality Test. 

2. HOW TO APPLY:

Candidates are required to apply Online by using the website https://upsconline.nic.in Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above mentioned website. Brief Instructions for filling up the "Online Application Form" given in Appendix-IIA. 

Candidate should have details of one Photo ID Card viz. Aadhaar Card/Voter Card/PAN Card/Passport/Driving Licence/Any other Photo ID Card issued by the State/Central Government. The details of this Photo ID Card will have to be provided by the candidate while filling up the online application form. The candidates will have to upload a scanned copy of the Photo ID whose details have been provided in the online application by him/her. This Photo ID Card will be used for all future referencing and the candidate is advised to carry this Photo ID Card while appearing for Examination/Personality Test. 

The facility of withdrawal of Application is available for those candidates who do not want to appear for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination. In this regard, Instructions are mentioned in Appendix IIB of this Examination Notice.

3. LAST DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS :

The online Applications can be filled up to 22nd February, 2022 till 6:00 PM. The eligible candidates shall be issued an e-Admit Card three weeks before the commencement of the examination. The e-Admit Card will be made available in the UPSC website [ https://upsconline.nic.in ] for downloading by candidates. No Admit Card will be sent by post. 

4. PENALTY FOR WRONG ANSWERS:

Candidates should note that there will be penalty (negative marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the Objective Type Question Papers.

5. FACILITATION COUNTER FOR GUIDANCE OF CANDIDATES:

In case of any guidance/information/clarification regarding their applications, candidature etc. candidates can contact UPSC’s Facilitation Counter near gate ‘C’ of its campus in person or over Telephone No. 011-23385271/011-23381125/011-23098543 on working days between 10.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs.

F. No. 1/9/2021-E.I(B) : Preliminary Examination of the Civil Services Examination for recruitment to the Services and Posts mentioned below will be held by the Union Public Service Commission on 5th June, 2022 in accordance with the Rules published by the Department of Personnel & Training in the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 2nd Feb, 2022. All candidates must carefully read the Civil Services Examination-2022 Rules together with all the Appendices along with the Annexures thereof and this Examination Notice derived from the CSE Rules, 2022 in entirety for gaining awareness of the current Rules and Regulations as changes may have been incorporated since the previous Examination Rules. 

(i) Indian Administrative Service
(ii) Indian Foreign Service
(iii) Indian Police Service
(iv) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
(v) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
(vi) Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’
(vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’
(viii) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’
(ix) Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group ‘A’
(x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’
(xi) Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’
(xii) Indian Railway Protection Force Service, Group ‘A’
(xiii) Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) Group ‘A’
(xiv) Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’
(xv) Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Grade III)
(xvi) Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade)
(xvii) Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service (DANICS), Group ‘B’
(xviii) Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service (DANIPS), Group ‘B’
(xix) Pondicherry Civil Service (PONDICS), Group ‘B’

 

Click Here to Download UPSC Official Notification PDF

The number of vacancies to be filled through the examination is expected to be approximately 861 which include 34 vacancies reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disability Category, i.e. 7 Vacancies for candidates of (a) blindness and low vision; 11-Vacancies for (b) deaf and hard of hearing; 8-Vacancies for (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; and 8- Vacancies for (e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (c) including deaf-blindness. The final number of vacancies may undergo change after getting firm number of vacancies from Cadre Controlling Authorities. Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes. Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, the Economically Weaker Sections and Persons with Benchmark Disability in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government. 

As per the decision taken by the Government for increasing the access of unemployed to job opportunities, the Commission will publicly disclose the scores of the candidates (obtained in the Written Examination and Interview/Personality Test) through the public portals. The disclosure will be made in respect of only those willing candidates who will appear in the Interview/Personality Test for the Civil Service Examination and are not finally recommended for appointment. The information shared through this disclosure scheme about the non-recommended candidates may be used by other public and private recruitment agencies to appoint suitable candidates from the information made available in the public portal. 

Candidates will be required to give their options at the time of Interview/Personality Test, while downloading the e-Summon Letter from the Commission’s website for the interview. A candidate may opt out of the scheme also and in that case his/her details will not be published by the Commission. Besides sharing of the information of the non-recommended willing candidates of this examination, the Commission will not assume any responsibility or liability for the method and manner in which information related to such candidates is utilized by public/private organizations. 

3. Eligibility Conditions: (I) Nationality

  1. For the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Foreign Service and the Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.

  2. For other services, a candidate must be either:-

  • a citizen of India, or

  • a subject of Nepal, or

  • a subject of Bhutan, or

  • a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or

  • a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India. Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him/her by the Government of India.

(II) Age Limits:

1.A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2022 i.e., the candidate must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1990 and not later than 1st August, 2001.  

(b) The upper age-limit prescribed above will be relaxable:
(i) up to a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;
(ii) up to a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates;
(iii) up to a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services Personnel, disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof;
(iv) up to a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2020 and have been released;
(a) on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, 2020 otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency; or
(b) on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service; or
(c) on invalidment.
(v) up to a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August, 2020 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months’ notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment. 
(vi) up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of (a) blindness and low vision; (b) deaf and hard of hearing; (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; and (e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness. 

(III) Minimum Educational Qualifications :

The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University Under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification 

Note I:—Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them educationally qualified for the Commission’s examination but have not been informed of the result as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination. All candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission for taking the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to produce proof of passing the requisite examination along with their application (i.e. Detailed Application Form-I) for the Main Examination, failing which
such candidates will not be admitted to the Main Examination. Such proof of passing the requisite examination should be dated earlier than the due date (closing date) of Detailed Application Form-I of the Civil Services (Main) Examination.

Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate who does not have any of the foregoing qualifications as a qualified candidate provided that he/she has passed examination conducted by the other Institutions, the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his/her admission to the examination.

Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be eligible for admission to the examination.

Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S. or any other Medical Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University/Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional medical examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce at the time of their interview original Degree or a certificate from the concerned competent authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree 

4. FEE:

Candidates (excepting Female/SC/ST/Persons with Benchmark Disability Candidates who are exempted from payment of fee) are required to pay fee of Rs. 100/- (Rupees One Hundred only) either by remitting the money in any Branch of State Bank of India or by using Visa/Master/RuPay Credit/Debit Card or by using Internet Banking of SBI. Applicants who opt for "Pay by Cash" mode should print the system generated Pay-in-slip during part II registration and deposit the fee at the counter of SBI Branch on the next working day only. "Pay by Cash” mode will be deactivated at 11.59 P.M. of 21st Feb, 2022 i.e. one day before the closing date; however applicants, who have generated their Pay-in- Slip before it is deactivated, may pay at the counter of SBI Branch during banking hours on the closing date. Such applicants who are unable to pay by cash on the closing date i.e. during banking hours at SBI Branch, for reasons whatsoever, even if holding valid pay-in-slip will have no other offline option but to opt for available online Debit/Credit Card or Internet Banking payment mode on the closing date i.e. till 06:00 P.M. of 22nd Feb, 2022. 

For the applicants in whose case payments details have not been received from the bank they will be treated as fictitious payment cases and a list of all such applicants shall be made available on the Commission website within two weeks after the last day of submission of online application.These applicants shall also be intimated through e-mail to submit copy of proof of their payment to the Commission at the address mentioned in the e-mail. The applicant shall be required to submit the proof within 10 days from the date of such communication either by hand or by speed post to the Commission. In case, no response is received from the applicants their applications shall be summarily rejected and no further correspondence shall be entertained in this regard. All female candidates and candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe/ Persons with Benchmark Disability categories are exempted from payment of fee. No fee exemption is, however, available to OBC/EWS candidates and they are required to pay the prescribed fee in full. Persons with Benchmark Disability are exempted from the payment of fee provided they are otherwise eligible for appointment to the Services/Posts to be filled on the results of this examination on the basis of the standards of medical fitness for these Services/Posts (including any concessions specifically extended to the Persons with Benchmark Disability). A candidate of Persons with Benchmark Disability claiming fee concession will be required by the Commission to submit along with their Detailed Application Form - I, a certified copy of the Certificate of Disability from a Government Hospital/Medical Board in support of his/her claim for belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disability. 

NB: Notwithstanding, the aforesaid provision for fee exemption, a candidate of Persons with Benchmark Disability will be considered to be eligible for appointment only if the candidate (after such physical examination as the Government or the Appointing Authority, as the case may be, may prescribe) is found to satisfy the requirements of physical and medical standards for the concerned Services/Posts to be allocated to candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability by the Government.

Note I: Applications without the prescribed Fee (unless remission of Fee is claimed) shall be summarily rejected.

Note II: Fee once paid shall not be refunded under any circumstances nor can the fee be held in reserve for any other examination or selection.

Note III: If any candidate who took the Civil Services Examination held in 2021 wishes to apply for admission to this examination, he/she must submit his/her application without waiting for the results or an offer of appointment.

Note IV: Candidates admitted to the Main Examination will be required to pay a further fee of Rs. 200/-(Rupees Two hundreds only).

Online Coaching for UPSC, IAS PRELIMS Exam

Printed Study Material IAS (UPSC) General Studies PRE Cum MAINS

(Success Story) UPSC 2020 TOPPER, AIR-15 Ria Dabi’s Strategy For Clearing UPSC Exams



(Success Story) UPSC 2020 TOPPER, AIR-15 Ria Dabi’s Strategy For Clearing UPSC Exams



Ria Dabi from Delhi has secured the coveted all-India rank of 15 in UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020. Interestingly, she is the younger sister of UPSC 2015 and serving IAS officer topper Tina Dabi. Like her sister, Ria was also a motivated aspirant and she believes the guidance she received from her helped her a lot in achieving this feat. Ria is a graduate in Political Science from Lady Shriram College, Delhi. She started preparing for UPSC Civil Services immediately after.

10 Tips To Crack UPSC IAS Exams By Topper Ria Dabi

  1. Read the UPSC Syllabus multiple times and just learn it by heart. This will not only help you know what to study, but it will also help in choosing which topics from the daily news you need to add to your current affairs preparation.
  2. Pay special attention to the Newspaper Editorials as this offers great material as well argumentative styles and analytical skills to your answers and essays.
  3. Keep a cutout of relevant articles instead of trying to note them just word to word. Jot down analysis or personal Study Notes and additional comments alongside them.
  4. Ria usually kept these cutouts of information of newly launched government schemes, any summit or conference being held, articles about the environmental condition in the country and international relations, etc. in a designated folder. This allowed her to revise more efficiently.

 

Image Courtesy: RIA DABI 

  1. If a piece of news keeps repeating, it increases the chances of questions being asked on that topic. Keep all related information about the topic, along with any related static information in a single location so that you may be able to revise quickly later.
  2. One of the tricks Ria used was first reading an article multiple times, understanding the gist, and then loudly repeating what she understood and then checking if she missed anything again. This helped her learn the article thoroughly.
  3. Have a daily, weekly, and monthly revision schedule for the best possible retention.
  4. Ria warns against having too many resources. Her tip is to follow the NCERT books and add to your list the widely accepted books such as Spectrum, Laxmikanth, etc. It is not about how many sources you covered but how well you covered them. The idea is to understand and utilize the information.
  5. Ria puts a lot of credit for her impressive score on the Essay papers. She insists knowledge of the subject alone will not help you score well in this paper. Presentation and how well you can express and back up your opinions will. To achieve that, Ria recommends beginning with a powerful quote, statistics, or even an incident that grabs the examiner’s attention.
  6. As for answer writing in general, always ensure that each answer follows a very clear structure and flows from one paragraph to the other. An open mind and solution-oriented approach will impress the examiner. So try to end the answer on a positive note wherever possible and refrain from being overly pessimistic or critical.

 

Image Courtesy: RIA DABI 

Structure of a Good Answer

Ria, like her sister, wishes to work in her home state of Rajasthan. 

Best of Luck.

© IASEXAMPORTAL

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

UPSC Exam Complete Study Materials

Online Coaching for IAS PRELIMS Exam

<<Go Back To Main Page

(Success Story) UPSC 2020 TOPPER, AIR-14 Karishma Nair’s Strategy To Cracking UPSC Exams



(Success Story) UPSC 2020 TOPPER, AIR-14 Karishma Nair’s Strategy To Cracking UPSC Exams



Karishma Nair is a native of Kerala who secured an all-India rank of 14 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020. This was her second attempt. Previously she had reached the interview rounds in 2019, however, failed to reach the final merit list. Karishma holds a bachelor’s degree in forensic science. Her optional subject for both her attempts was Public Administration.

Learning From Failure

The first step to getting over failure is acceptance. When Karishma failed to reach her goal despite reaching the final stage, like many other aspirants, her first reaction was to blame the process. However, she soon realised that blaming the examination for her own failure will not help her improve and succeed. She immediately began taking note of her weaknesses and working on them.

The results came out very late for 2019 and Karishma decided to concentrate on UPSC Prelims completely. With support from her family, she started making notes from scratch as she decided the previous year’s papers notes were not adequate and also partly responsible for her poor performance. Karishma believes the fact that she did not have the time to grieve her failure, but instead had to dive directly into preparation again, contributed greatly to her success this time around.

Utilizing Test Series

For prelims, like all toppers over the years, Karishma also advises on the importance of TEST SERIES. However, she has a particular take on it which worked greatly in her favour. For starters, Karishma did not start taking full tests before the last 2 months leading up to the preliminary exam. She also did not indulge in every subject-wise test. With the help of her mentors, she had identified areas of strength, which she did not need subject wise tests for. However, for subjects she was weak in, she took multiple sectional tests. She was scoring between 90 and 95 initially, but she soon realised she needed to attempt more questions, which subsequently helped her increase her scores. This improvement also helped her stay motivated.

Answer Writing To Win

Karishma like many of her counterparts, started her UPSC journey believing her answers were near perfect and she did not need to worry about the answer writing part for UPSC MAINS. However, she soon realised that was not the case. She realised through attempting mains mocks that she was finding it increasingly difficult to complete papers. Diagrams were another section where she was wasting a lot of time during attempting papers.

So in her second attempt, she decided to forgo the idea of thinking up diagrams on spot. She also made peace with not being able to attempt every question. Instead, she concentrated on attempting one more question in each paper than the last attempt. She also shifted from a paragraph-based approach to a subheading and point-based approach. In the end, it is the small things like these that helped Karishma clinch victory. 

If she can do it, she encourages you to be confident that you can do it too!

Best of Luck.

© IASEXAMPORTAL

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD UPSC TOPPERS NOTES

UPSC Exam Complete Study Materials

Online Coaching for IAS PRELIMS Exam

<<Go Back To Main Page

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - trainee5's blog