(Success Story)The Journey of Arushi Mishra (AIR 229) Cracking Every Exam in The Path to UPSC
Settling down for a penny less than what you think you deserve isn’t something Arushi Mishra believes in. In her quest to ace the Civil Services, Arushi has successfully secured rank 16 in Uttar Pradesh PSC Exam in 2017, as well as an all India rank of 2 in India Forest Service(IFoS) in 2019. But she never stopped. She never settled down for either achievement. She kept on pursuing her UPSC goals. In fact, she used each success as fuel to power her through to her ultimate goal.
The Journey :
Hailing from Raebareli, Arushi has done her complete schooling in this small town of Uttar Pradesh. Thereon, having prepared well for her IIT-JEE, she got admission in IIT Roorkee. After completing her graduation, she immediately wanted to start preparing for her Civil Services dreams. Arushi says that although her ultimate goal was acing UPSC Civil Services, she always had other examinations along her journey to ensure she had more than one option open. She strongly suggests all aspirants keep their options open as well.
Arushi’s first UPSC attempt was in 2015. However, she does not consider it to be a serious attempt. At that point, she was just testing the waters. Result is a process, not a product – Arushi says. So, through 5 years, she put in her heart and soul to cracking this exam. And on the way picked up similar results.
At each stage, despite coming up on top of lakhs of aspirants, whether it was in UPPSC of IfoS, Arushi never thought of letting go of her UPSC dreams. And yes, those were some very respectable services as well, and she would have been equally proud to join the ranks, but her heart was set on UPSC. And she had to keep working hard till she hit the end goal.
Bettering Yourself One Step at a Time :
Arushi urges aspirants to learn from her mistakes. 2019 was the first time she cracked UPSC CSE Mains and went through to interviews. Due to her prior experience in acing both UPPSC and IfoS interviews, she was confident that she was doing justice to her talents in the UPSC interview as well. She was never worried about that. Her main worry remained her mains exams.
Arushi had long cultivated the art of answer writing. She used to collect stories from her day to day life, as well as news articles she read every day, to use as case studies in her answers. She strongly believed that it is those little personal touches that help an answer stand out than using examples from textbooks that are just so common among all aspirants. She is also a great supporter of online education and has used online answer writing programs to assess her skills. She mentions how writing an answer and just noting the marks aren’t good enough. Until and unless one reads and analyzes the reviews, and uses those reviews to better their skills, they will not improve.
Despite the effort, the UPSC mains examination was proving to be an impossible hurdle for Arushi. It is at this point where she started reading UPSC topper’s answers. And Arushi says, this made all the difference and catapulted her writing skills so that she could finally break through to the interview stage, and finally to the final merit list. She says one may think they are writing a decent answer, but it is only when they compare their answers to the best, that they learn where they are truly lacking. There is a lot to learn from people who have scaled this mountain before, and it is unwise not to use the vast resources at hand to do so.
Message to IAS Aspirants :
Arushi Mishra UPSC Topper's Strategy & Interview
Sincerity and the perseverance of a positive attitude are what helps an aspirant succeed in UPSC. A sincere aspirant will always have the backing of their friends and family. Hard work shows and garners respect. An exam such as UPSC is a long-term game, and the highs and lows of preparation will get to you. Only by understanding that you cannot be at your best at every step of the way, accepting that it is okay to fail, and still trying to stay happy with your overall life and not just the career you have chosen, can one achieve the right attitude to bell this cat. Arushi’s 5-year long journey is a prime example of what sincerity, combined with the right attitude can achieve.
(Success Story)Aashima Goyal's Strategy Towards Cracking UPSC (AIR 65)
Aashima Goyal is yet another Engineer turned civil servant as the youth increasingly try and find their calling in the services that allow them to contribute more directly to society. Hailing from a humble middle-class family from Faridabad, Aashima has done her engineering in Biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Craving work that allows her to contribute more directly to society, Aashima has volunteered with many NGOs in her college years. It was during her final year in IIT Delhi, that she witnessed many of her seniors securing top ranks in UPSC Civil Services Examsand got interested in the services.
Finding Her Footing :
During her first attempt at UPSC, Aashima was still working. It was difficult to find time to study during the weekdays and she could barely manage more than four hours each day. On the weekends, she gave it her best. However, she admits that the time restrain and the work pressure got to her and Aashima was unable to crack the preliminary stages in her very first UPSC attempt and missed the mark by a substantial 15 marks.
It was after this setback that she decided to pursue her UPSC preparations full-time with full support from her family. She joined classroom tuition and started her preparation at full throttle. Devoting at least 10 hours a day, Aashima breezed through her second attempt, securing a prestigious all India rank of 65.
Aashima Goyal, AIR 65, UPSC CSE 2019
Aashima’s Strategy :
Aashima says regularity is key. It might happen that one day you may not feel like studying your optional. Instead of wasting the day, shift focus to a General Studies subject instead. Maintaining momentum and not stopping is the only way to keep up a steady pace while preparing for UPSC.
Aashima is also a firm believer in positive feedback. Experiences of smaller successes help people keep working hard towards their ultimate goal. For this, Aashima broke down her long goal of cracking UPSC into smaller, time-bound goals. As she successfully completed each of her short-term goals, Aashima’s confidence soared and she could keep fighting for her ultimate Civil Services aim. Test scores are also an excellent way to boost one’s confidence and Aashima suggests aspirants start taking up mock tests from the very beginning of their preparation.
UPSC Prelims vs Mains :
Aashima, like so many successful Civil Service toppers, does not believe in separate preparations for preliminary and mains exams. UPSC Civil Services examination is a marathon. Both Prelims and Mains are part of the same track. Integrated studying is the only way to achieve success in this examination. After all, the prelims exam is just a qualifier, it is the mains examination that will fetch one their rank. Aashima herself gave her prelims 90 days of preparation time right before the Preliminary Exam date. Even then, she took out 15 days of her schedule to finish off her optional. She believed that she would not be able to secure good ranks without her optional scores being on top and she took the risk, which later paid off.
Smart Studying :
The first thing Aashima did when she started her preparation was to make short notes on each topic in the syllabus. After that, she delved into recommended textbooks and started completing the upsc syllabus at depth. She believes one must be acquainted with each topic mentioned in the syllabus for them to have an upper hand in the examination. Towards that end, Aashima also joined a mains mock test series. She started off with small sectional tests where she would write 10 answers in 90 minutes, get an analysis of her answer writing skills, and then improve herself based on the feedback.
Aashima insists that the 3 months between prelims and mains is not the time to start answer writing. Rather, those 3 months should completely be dedicated to revising. Answer writing should be a year-long exercise. The same goes for the Essay paper. It is a 250 marks paper and should be treated with the same importance as the rest of the GS papers. One should aim to write at least 10 full essays before they sit for their mains paper. Going through previous years essays is also key.
Message to Aspirants :
Do not forget - revision is key. Whether it is General Studies static portion or current affairs, multiple revisions and a whole lot of answer writing is the only way to succeed in UPSC. And have faith in yourself and dream big. Nobody can stop you from reaching your goals but yourself.
NGT raps up environment ministry for not strengthening monitoring mechanisms
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday rapped the Environment Ministry for failing to strengthen the monitoring mechanisms pertaining to the compliance of conditions mentioned in clearances granted for various projects. Stating that the lack of effective enforcement reflected the Centre’s “insensitivity” to the issue, the green panel directed the Ministry to take appropriate steps.
Taking note of an affidavit furnished by the Ministry, a Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said, “This only shows insensitivity to the vital constitutional obligation despite repeated directions. Repeated plea of merely having such proposals without effective enforcement on the ground can hardly be held to be satisfactory.”
Following submissions made by the Ministry, that “meaningful steps” had been taken after the filing of the affidavit, the Bench said, “We cannot accept such a statement. If steps have been actually taken, we fail to understand why the same could not be produced at least during the hearing. We record our dissatisfaction at the attitude of the MoEF&CC on the subject.”
The observations came when the green panel was hearing a plea moved by Sandip Mittal seeking directions to devise effective monitoring mechanisms for compliance of conditions of environmental clearance.
MoHUA releases knowledge pack on ARHC
Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri released Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) Knowledge Pack on Friday. This includes MoUs to be signed with States and Union Territories to provide ease of living to urban migrants in the country.
The Union Cabinet had approved ARHC as a sub scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) earlier this month to provide housing facility to migrant workers and urban poor.
The Affordable Housing Complex scheme will be implemented through two models in the country.
Under the first model existing Government funded vacant houses will be converted into ARHCs through Public Private Partnership or by public agencies for a period of 25 years. Under the second model ARHCs will be constructed, operated and maintained by Public or Private Entities on their own available vacant land for a period of 25 years.
Government has said that continued cooperation towards successful implementation of ARHC Scheme will not only benefit urban migrants and poor but will also accelerate entrepreneurship and investment in rental housing market giving boost to the economy.
Finance commission submits report on agricultural exports
The High Level Group (HLEG) on Agricultural Exports set up by the Fifteenth Finance Commission has submitted its report to the Commission on Friday.
The HLEG was set up to recommend measurable performance incentives for states to encourage agricultural exports and to promote crops to enable high import substitution. After intensive research and consultations from stakeholders and the private sector, the HLEG has made its recommendations.
The recommendations include demand driven approach and focus on 22 crop value chains. The group has also suggested creation of state led export plan with participation from all stakeholders.
The group has recommended that private sector players should play an anchor role in driving outcomes and execution of the agricultural export plan.
The group has stated that the additional exports generated after implementation of the recommendations is likely to create an estimated 7 to 10 million jobs in the country. It said that it will also lead to higher farm productivity and farmer income.
Centre’s fiscal deficit reaches 83% of budgeted target in first 3 months of fiscal
The Centre’s fiscal deficit for the first three months of fiscal 2020-21 was ₹6.62 lakh crore, which is 83% of the budgeted target for the year, official data show.
Economists said given the government’s additional borrowing plans, both to meet stimulus spending and bridge the revenue shortfall as a result of the pandemic, the fiscal deficit may end up as high as 8% of GDP, far exceeding the budget’s goal of 3.5%.
The Union government has received ₹1.53 lakh crore (in terms of tax, non-tax revenue and loan recoveries) from April to June. This is less than 7% of budget estimates for the full year.
The Centre’s total expenditure for the quarter was ₹8.15 crore, almost 27% of budget estimates for the year, according to the report published by the Controller General of Accounts on Friday.
“The 83% figure is not surprising because it is using a denominator that has already been exceeded,” said D.K. Srivastava, chief economist with Ernst and Young, and a member of the advisory council to the 15th Finance Commission.
D.K. Pant, chief economist at India Ratings,estimated a fiscal deficit of 7.6%, while MadanSabnavis, chief economist of CARE Ratings, said it could go as high as 8% of GDP.
“When economic activity has been stopped because of the pandemic and lockdown, government revenues are also going to come down,” said Dr.Sabnavis. “We have been noting the positive trade surplus, but when imports are down, customs revenue is also lower. And consumers have also cut down on discretionary spending,” he added.
ISA amends framework agreement to enlarge membership
In a major development and push to Prime Minister NarendraModi’s vision of achieving universalization of membership of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the requisite number of member countries have given the go-ahead.
After ratification to the amendment of the ISA framework, all the Member States of the United Nations will now be able to join the International Solar Alliance, including those countries which are beyond the Tropics.
The International Solar Alliance was launched jointly by Prime Minister Modi and the President of France during COP21 in Paris. The alliance aims to contribute to the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement through rapid and massive deployment of solar energy.
It also brings together countries to provide a collective response to the main common obstacles to the massive deployment of solar energy in terms of technology, finance and capacity.
ADB to support powerplants in Bangladesh with Indian entrepreneurs
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a dollar 200 million financing deal with the Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Limited (RBLPL) to build and operate a 718 megawatt combined-cycle gas-fired power plant in Bangladesh. Announcing the deal in a press release on Friday, the ADB said that the project will ease ongoing energy shortages and drive further private sector investments in the country’s power sector.
A combined-cycle power plant is a relatively more efficient way of producing electricity. It uses both a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50 percent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant.
The financing deal has two components of dollar 100 million each. While ADB will provide dollar 100 million, it will also administer the other part worth dollar 100 million from the Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP).
LEAP was set up in 2016 with a dollar 1.5 billion capital commitment for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The plant is proposed to be located on land allotted by Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), in Meghnaghat, Narayanganj District near Dhaka.
The power plant will reduce dependence of Bangladesh on electricity imports. It will also reduce the share of environmentally harmful and expensive fuels like coal and oil in the energy mix of the country.
Shishir Gupta’s story shows you how never giving up on your goals is the key to finally achieving them. Hailing from the ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur, Rajasthan, Shishir is from a humble background. His father is a principal at Govt Senior Section School in Bassi, and his mother a homemaker. Shishir himself is a pass out from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in Chemical Engineering. He has worked in the UAE in corporate for 2 years after his graduation. Once he was sure about having secured his family financially to some extent, Shishir returned to pursue his IAS dream and first appeared in UPSC CSE in 2015.
Never Giving Up:
Shishir appeared for UPSC Civil Services Examination for the first time in 2016, having returned from the UAE to India. He joined Polity classes with Delhi but couldn’t continue as his health suffered. It took almost a year for him to recover. Despite the setback, Shishir cleared the preliminary examination and wrote his mains. He attributes this success to his grasp ofcurrent affairs and the fact that the 2016 UPSC preliminary paper was very heavy in current affairs. However, he could not clear his mains exam as his preparation was not at par with what UPSC requires. He had not completed the upsc syllabus for his optional either.
In his second attempt, in 2017, Shishir cleared both his preliminary and mains examination. When it came to the upsc interview, he was subjected to a stress test and it did not go well. However, Shishir primarily blames his Ethics paper for failing him as he missed the cut off to reach the merit list by a mere 6 marks. In response to this, he did a short 5-days ethics enrichment class with Anubhav Sir to better understand how to correct his flaws. However, unfortunately, recovering from the heartbreak of losing out on his chance despite having reached the final stages, Shishir was unable to clear his 2018 Civil Service Preliminary Examination.
Shishir’s Strategy :
Shishir With His Family on Result Day
Self Study is Key :
Heartbroken at the turn of events, Shishir started thinking if not taking coachings is what was pulling him down. As such, he moved to Delhi and joined full-time classes. But soon enough, he realized it wasn’t the right fit for him and self-study was the only way he was going to ace this exam. As a first step, he started studying upsc topper’s answers which are freely available online, to understand where he was lagging. Soon enough, he realized the importance of using micro diagrams, maps, and flowcharts in his answers and making them more engrossing for the examiner to read.
Meticulous Preparation :
Shishir is a believer in studying whatever little he chooses to meticulously. For example, the syllabus for Mathematics optional is huge. He decided that he will not spend too much time on 20% of the syllabus that is exceptionally hard. Instead, he prepared the rest 80% so thoroughly that he did not miss a single question from the portion. He was confident of 450 out of the 500 marks in his optional papers. He applied the same logic to prepare his General Studies papers. He ensured that the static material preparation was so solid, that whether it was prelims or mains, he will have at least 50% of the paper covered. And for an examination like UPSC, that is almost the battle won.
Enriching His Knowledge Bank :
To ensure he gave UPSC CSE 2019 his best performance yet, Shishir made a few adjustments to his preparation. He had already covered his static syllabus multiple times over the years, along with a steady habit of updating his current affairs knowledge. With his natural talent for numerics, his optional, which incidentally was the far less common subject Mathematics, was also well prepared. But he was still coming up short. So, this year, he made a few adjustments.
He started with improving his answer writing style using topper’s model answers as guidelines. He spent 10 to 15 minutes every day in front of a map, noting places and features in his mind. He also picked up more obscure topics asked every year in different UPSC exams such as CSE, NDA,CAPF-AC, etc. and made data tables. He made note of all international organizations India is a part of and her role in each of them. Thus, there was little to the scope of Shishir not being able to tackle every softball UPSC was set to throw at him in 2019, and clearly, he played a winning game.
Message to Aspirants :
Shishir’s success storyis an inspiration for every aspirant to not give up. However, there is another message he would like to pass on. You will meet people in the path to your dreams who drag you down, apply undue social pressure over you. Have faith in yourself and avoid these people like a plague, and you will most definitely crack your IAS goal.
Mandar Patki’s UPSC story is what a a million students across India wish it were theirs. Mandar took a year off after college to prepare for his UPSC Civil Services Examination attempt, and at the very first appearance, managed a dream all India rank of 22. This Beed native has pursued a Polytechnic diploma from Government Polytechnic College, Pune, followed by a Btech degree from Vishwakarma University.
Mandar has grown up watching his father work in the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited. True to the technical background of his father, Mandar pursued Mechanical Engineering as a discipline. But halfway through his college days, he realized that his heart lies in administration. Thus, began his UPSC journey.
Mandar’s Strategy :
Mandar emphasizes planning and multiple revisions. He goes on to say that his planning was so airtight that if you asked him in December what portion of the upsc syllabushe would be studying in March, he would be able to tell you exactly. And, if you double-checked with him, you would find him studying exactly that.
Study Sources :
Mandar is a big believer in minimum sources with maximum revision. He stuck by the usual sources for General Studies as well as optional. He read the go-to books such as the NCERT books for classes 6-12, Laxmikanth for Polity, Spectrum for Modern History, Shankar IAS for Environment, and The Hindu for current affairs. He religiously studied current affairs daily and made notes for both the static and current portion of the curriculum. He also made topic-wise notes covering the whole upsc syllabus and all headings and sub-headings mentioned in the UPSC CSE syllabus.
Preliminary Examination :
He made topic-wise short notes for the IAS Prelims syllabus. He kept on revising those notes over and over again. To ensure that they were always handy, he used Evernote – a cloud-based note-making software. He has solved over 60 sectional mock tests and 40 full-length mock tests during his prelims preparation. He insists on taking more than enough tests as not only does it give one confidence, it also helps them get a grasp over the method of solving questions by option elimination. This method can make or break an aspirant’s chances at UPSC CSE.
Mains Examination :
UPSC mains syllabus is incredibly vast for General Studies and can seem mind boggling at first. However, if one notices the syllabus and follows it topic by topic, it is easier to manage. Mandar did the same and made topic-wise notes for the mains General Studies papers as well. He is a big believer in utilizing online video lectures for the more obscure topics and making his own crisp notes for the same. Using his compact notes, he was able to revise the whole mains General Studies syllabus multiple times in the one month before the mains examination.
For mains, Mandar had not joined a test series. He kept on practicing answer writing from day one. Through his practice, he realized how important time management is. He allotted 7 minutes for his 10 mark answers and 11 minutes for the 15 mark answers, ensuring he never ran out of the clock. He advises aspirants to focus on the quality of answer writing, even if they run out of time at the beginning of their preparation. Timing can be improved in due time. And always follow topper’s model answers for inspiration.
Mandar with his family
Essays :
He picked uptopper’s model essay notes and used the material and style to enrich his essays. He prepared many examples and case studies on national and international events and personalities. He had prepared a few quotes as well. He even used poetry to enrich his answer. Predefining a few model introductions and conclusions helps one save time as well.
Optional Papers :
Mandar chose Anthropology as it has a very crisp syllabus, with a lot of online and offline resources available. It has also had a very scoring trend over the past few years of UPSC. It also happens to be interesting. He was able to complete it in 3 to 4 months.
Interview :
UPSC DAFis the most important part of your interview and it will guide what questions you are asked in the upsc interview, Mandar says. He also insists one should research their local area’s history and geography, and also about the discipline of studies one has pursued. Mandar faced a very conservative board. He was even asked if students like him choosing to stay unemployed to pursue other careers is the reason for skill India failing. Mandar chose to answer it in all honesty and with extreme humility, ensuring his confidence did not falter. Interview for UPSC is a personality test; it tests an aspirant’s temperament.
Message to Aspirants :
Always prepare with a time-bound goal and have a backup plan. For Mandar, he had given himself 3 years. He had also prepared a little for banking examinations.
There is more to life than your career. Do NOT let it break you.
(Success Story)Topper's Strategy for History Optional – AIR 28 Chandrajyoti Singh Shares Her Winning Plan
Chandrajyoti Singh cleared the UPSC Civil Services examination in 2019, at her very first attempt, with a wholesome all India rank of 28. As both her parents served in the Indian army, the will to serve the nation was ingrained in her from a very early age. With her parents holding transferable jobs, she moved from one part of the country to another, finally finding herself pursuing her graduation in History from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. After completing her graduation in 2018, Chandrajyoti took a gap year to fully concentrate on her UPSC preparation and appeared for the Civil Services Examination for the very first time in 2019, successfully passing it with flying colors.
Chandrajyoti Singh, AIR 28, 2019
Strategy for History Optional
After her graduation in June 2018, she immediately moved to Delhi’s Rajendra Nagar, to further her preparation. Being a student of History, she naturally found herself taking up History as her optional subject for UPSC Civil Services Mains as well. She took the first 4 months, i.e. June, July, August, and September, of her preparation to complete her optional at one go. She started with Ancient History in June, slowly proceeding topic-wise, till she was done with the complete syllabus by the end of September.
Once she had completed one iteration through the curriculum, she started writing answers and taking mock tests to test how well she could perform in a real-time examination. It was around this time that she took up map practice specific to History, marking all sites on different locations on the map, taking one portion each time. This eventually helped her make notes with maps marked that she could use to quickly revise just before the written examination. This also helped enrich her answer writing tactics.
Keep It Simple and Keep Revising
Chandrajyoti kept her sources limited and made short, crisp notes from them. This helped her quickly revise before the exams, as well as keep revising until the material was lodged in her mind so well that she could recall it at the drop of a hat.
Chandrajyoti with her parents.
Study Sources :
Chandrajyoti followed the following sources for each section:
World History – A History of the Modern World by Jain and Mathur, Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe.
Chandrajyoti also says she used the internet to her full advantage. If any topic in the syllabus was not adequately presented in these sources or was difficult to understand for her, she would simply use the topic name and add “UPSC” next to it and try a Google search. More often than not, that would give her enough sources to work with.
She has also used supplementary sources as follows:
IGNOU History Notes – These helped her fill in any gaps that may have been left in the notes she had prepared on her own.
Her own graduation notes as they added to the minimal sources, she had kept for UPSC.
Maps from Self-Study History – Helped her create crisp content that she could incorporate in her answers to the right informational answers in fewer words and less time.
Mock Tests :
Chandrajyoti took lot of mock tests for practice. These helped her gauge how well her preparation was and how appropriately she was presenting her answers. The feedback from test serieshelped her improve her answers. She insists that aspirants should focus on answer writing. The content may remain the same for almost every aspirant; however, it is how well that content is presented that gives one an edge over the competition. Enrolling in at least one test series with evaluation is the key to getting good marks in the mains examination.
Tricks and Tips :
History puts a lot of weight on Historiography i.e. the practice of citing scholars who made those statements. For example, if you are writing an answer on the decline of the Harappan Civilization, and you mention that Historians have made a certain assumption, mentioning the name of the Historian instead of just mentioning their hypothesis will give you an edge over other aspirants.
Message to Aspirants :
Chandrajyoti says her strategy served her well, however, it may not be as suited to another aspirant. Pick and choose what works for you and discard that doesn’t. There is no one path. As long as you are sincere, and work hard on not only studying information but also on answer writing, you should sail through.
(Success Story)Cracking UPSC After Marriage – Story of AIR 508 Suman Nala
Suman Nala is an inspiration for millions of Indian women out there, struggling to balance their family responsibilities along with their dreams. A Computer Science Engineer from BITS Pilani, Suman graduated in 2012 and worked in Oracle, a dream job for many. Having worked for about three and a half years, Suman finally quit to pursue her IAS dream. Civil Services Examination 2019 was her 4th attempt.
Struggles :
Suman says her hurdles were not very different from the rest of the aspirants. The vastsyllabus of UPSC CSE was daunting. Being from an engineering background, she was not comfortable with the subjects which are required to pass this exam. Computer Science is nowhere in the list of optionals UPSC allows. And Suman frankly admits that even if it were, like many other Science subjects that UPSC does allow, like other aspirants, she would have chosen an optional closely related to the General Studies preparation, rather than study a vastly different curriculum.
Her Journey :
Suman cleared her upsc prelims in her first attempt in 2016, but she could not go through the mains exam. However, this gave her confidence that she would crack it in her next attempt. But as luck would have it, despite being invited to appear for interviews in her 2nd attempt in 2017, she did not make it to the final list. The aftershock of this failure carried forward to her 3rd attempt in 2018 and Suman found herself once again unable to clear the mains exam. But with the support of her parents and in-laws, especially her husband, who himself had cleared the examination while they were preparing for UPSC together, Suman worked even harder and sailed through her 4th attempt in 2019.
UPSC Prelims Strategy :
Suman had a clear-cut strategy for her preliminary examination preparation – solving as many mock question papers as she can. She also preferred reading the monthly current affairs compilation for her current affairs revision. Suman insists that due to the detailed nature of the UPSC syllabus, taking tests is the only way to understand which information you should memorize, and which you can leave aside. Taking mock tests allows you to not only judge your potential but more importantly, they ensure your preparation is well structured and well balanced.
UPSC CSE 2019 Successful Candidates
UPSC Optional Strategy :
Suman decided to study the NCERT books for the few subjects she had zeroed in on as final candidates for her optional. The ones she found most interesting were the History books. Which is why Suman chose History as her optional subject. She insists you should like the subject you choose as your optional. Very few clear UPSC at their very first attempt. In Suman’s case, it took her 4 years. Had she not liked History, she would not have been able to continue with it or score good marks with it in the end.
Prelims Cum Mains Preparation :
Suman, like so many other successful aspirants before her, insists on a combined preparation for both prelims and mains. Three to four months before the preliminary examination, one can switch to focussing completely on preliminary mock tests and prelim specific studies. Since the time span between the preliminary and mains examination is so little, the mains syllabus should be completed and if possible revised at least once before the preliminary examination. Between preliminary and mains exams, one can concentrate on further revision and practicing test papers. And always make your own notes, else you will never be able to complete revisions.
UPSC Interview :
Interviews are a test of your personality. Taking a few mock interviews is a good idea to polish the way you present your thoughts during the interview. It is a good idea to know your state, your district, any prior career you have had, as well as some knowledge of your educational background. Interviews might ask questions that are factual like prelims or analytical like mains. What is important is to be humble and maintain your presence of mind.
Message for IAS Aspirants :
Suman believes that if one is motivated and hardworking, family support is bound to come. UPSC sees aspirants of all age groups. There are people from different backgrounds, whether Engineers, Researchers, Professors, or Medical Doctors. Often they decide on UPSC after working in a completely different sector for at least a few years. Thus, many times, the issues of getting married and settling down does become a part of the journey. Thus, marriage should not be treated as the end of your career plan. Instead, just treat it as a part of the journey and keep fighting for your IAS dream.
(Success Story) Scoring High in Essays and Optional - Anisha Tomar's Strategy (AIR 94)
Anisha Tomar is an Engineer from UIT Punjab University, Chandigarh and she graduated from 2016. It was in her final year of B. Tech when she decided to pursue Civil Services as a career option, as the private sector did not excite her. Being from an army background, her father being a former Brigadier in the Indian army, Anisha has traveled and lived all across the country. Public service as a calling is not new to her family. 2019 was Anisha’s third attempt, her second mains, and her first interview.
Learning from Your Mistakes
Feeling a lack of guidance, Anisha joined attended full-time classes; however, she did not clear upsc prelims in her first attempt in 2017. But in this attempt, she realized that even though she had studied a lot, she didn’t study in the right direction. She had not noted the upsc syllabus in detail, nor had she gone through the previous year’s questions. Thus, her preparation, despite the effort, was certainly half baked.
Taking all this into account, Anisha started studying with more structure. She made her own notes and used the internet sources available to the best of her abilities. She referred to multiple online channels and made compilation. In 2018, she qualified prelims and appeared for upsc mains. Where Anisha feels she failed as she did not practice essays. As someone who has always had very good writing skills, she had wrongly assumed that she would score well without putting in the effort needed. Unfortunately, she was proven wrong.
She had also not practiced General Studies Paper-IV enough. Furthermore, in her quest to complete all questions in a paper, she had missed out on writing proper introductions and conclusions in some of her answers. These together largely prevented her from qualifying the mains exam. This year, she practiced enough answer writing to memorize some templated for introductions and conclusions, which she could use in multiple answers, molded to fir the context, without having to overthink it.
Anisha started this time from reading topper answers. By trying to emulate the structure and writing style of toppers in her own essays, she was able to pull up her marks by 30-40 marks at a stretch. Even though she only took 4 or 5 Essays mock tests, the practice allowed her to sail through the mains exams and finally make her place in the final merit list.
Scoring Well in Optionals
Anisha had chosen Public Administration for her optionals. Being from an IT background, Anisha wants aspirants to understand that an optional so far removed from someone’s educational background cannot be grasped by just completing the syllabus once. She herself took three tries to grasp the subject properly and encourages aspirants to do the same and not lose hope in the very first attempt. Following this, she again went through topper’s answers and then wrote mock tests to self assess and improve.
Interview Experience
Anisha’s interview experience was very different from the mocks she had appeared for. Most of the questions she was asked were based on her DAF, where she had mentioned traveling as a hobby. The board seemed intrigued by it and asked most questions based on scenarios related to it. She was also asked a few questions on her IT background.
Anisha’s Dreams
Anisha wants to work towards ensuring that every child has access to the means of education that she had the privilege of receiving. Education is an opportunity for a better future and Anisha hopes to pass along that opportunity to the future generation through her work as an IAS officer.
Secretary (Justice) at the Department of Justice, launches Enforcing Contracts Portal.
About:
It aims to promote ease of doing business and improve ContractEnforcement Regime in country.
Portal is envisioned to be a comprehensive source of information pertaining to legislative and policy reforms being undertaken on “Enforcing Contracts” parameters (was ranked 163 in 2019 rankings).
It will provide easy access to latest information on commercial cases in Dedicated Commercial Courts ofDelhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
Portal to also provide access to repository of commercial laws for ready reference.
Religious freedom report
A recent report by the Pew Research Center, a Washington DC-based nonpartisan think tank, has found that a majority of Indians enjoy religious freedom, value religious tolerance and believe that respect for all religions is central to the idea of India.
The Pew study is based on a face-to-face survey of 29,999 Indian adults between late 2019 and early 2020, weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world.
The Pew Research Center study highlights the new demographic projections which took into account the current size and geographic distribution of the world’s major religions, age differences, fertility and mortality rates, international migration, and patterns in conversion.
The Pew study also took a closer look at religious identity, nationalism and tolerance in Indian society.
According to the Pew survey, people of all six major religious groups - Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists-overwhelmingly believe they are very free to practice their faiths.
Heat dome
Huge tracts ofNorth America are sweltering under very high temperatures, which are close to 50ºC in some places.
The phenomenon behind this weather is known as a heat dome and the one that's currently settled across parts of Canada and the US.
About:
Heat dome is an area of high pressure that parks over a region like a lid on a pot, trapping heat.
They are more likely to form during La Nina years like 2021, when waters are cool in the eastern Pacificand warm in the western Pacific.
That temperature difference creates winds that blow dense, tropical, western air eastward.
Warm air gets trapped in the jet stream— a current of air spinning counter-clockwise around the globe— and ends up on the U.S. West Coast.
Global Cybersecurity Index
According to a United Nations report released on Tuesday, India has jumped 37 places to 10th position in the Global Cyber Security Index (GCI) 2020.
The GCI is a composite index created, analyzed and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations.
About:
It aims to measure the commitment to cybersecurity of its 194 member countries to raise cybersecurity awareness.
The latest report is the fourth GCI edition by the ITU, the first version of which was launched six years ago.
India ranked 10th in the fourth edition of the Global Cyber Security Index 2020 (GCI), a significant jump of 37 places from its previous GCI rank in 2018.
As cybersecurity has a wide area of application, cutting across multiple industries and different sectors, each country’s development or engagement is assessed along five pillars – (i) Legal measures, (ii) Technical measures, (iii) Organizational measures, (iv) Capacity development, and (v) Cooperation- and then aggregated into a composite score
Micro ATMs
In Ladakh, Cooperative Banking Service with Micro ATMs where both deposition and withdrawal of cash can be availed by the users will be introduced in far-flung areas.
About:
Micro ATMs are card swipe machines through which banks can remotely connect to their core banking system. This machine comes with a fingerprint scanner attached to it.
In other words, micro-ATMs are handheld point of sale terminals used to disburse cash in remote locations where bank branches cannot reach.
Micro ATMs are similar to point of sale (PoS) terminals and are a doorstep mobile banking arrangement cum-mobile ATM device.
(Success Story)Never Giving Up - The Inspirational Story Of AIR-11 Nupur Goel
Nupur Goel is an example of what never giving up on your goals can allow you to achieve. Without taking failure to heart, this inspirational young lady kept on pursuing her dreams and finally achieved the envious all India rank of 11 on her 6th and final attempt int 2019’s Civil Services Examination. It is a testament to her mental strength that she kept on performing consistently despite the hurdles she faced.
Nupur’s Background
Nupur is from Narela in Delhi. She has done her schooling from DAV Centenary Public School in Narela. She has done her B.Tech in Electronics and Communication from Delhi Technological University. She has done her Masters in Public Administration from IGNOU. She is currently employed with Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Why Civil Services?
Nupur was inspired by her uncle who had once prepared for UPSC, however, could not qualify. He gave her the confidence to take this path. Having been introduced to the world of private and public sectors in her final year of engineering, she decided against sitting for college campusing and instead prepare for UPSC IAS Exams. She took her first attempt in her graduation year of 2014 and qualified prelims and mains, but could not qualify interviews.
The Many Hurdles :
Nupur could not qualify her 2nd attempt preliminary in 2015. She believes that her General Studies preparation is what dragged her down. It was a serious blow having sat for interviews in her last attempt and not being able to qualify prelims itself. But she immediately changed her strategy and ended up qualifying both prelims and mains with a very good margin in her 3rd attempt. However, her interview in 2016 did not go very well and she was unable to qualify yet again.
In her 4th attempt in 2017, she was unable to clear prelims yet again. But Nupur believed in herself and kept preparing for UPSC. A friend of hers made her appear for the Intelligence Bureau examination held by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Although Nupur did not prepare for this exam particularly, her UPSC preparation pushed her through. She received her joining for this job in 2019.
She again failed at the interview level in her 2018 and 5th attempt. Nupur’s family encouraged her constantly to keep trying. Failure was never looked down upon at her home. Her efforts were appreciated immensely instead. This kept her going.
Strategy
Nupur says prelims are cracked by taking mocks. And for mains, the more you write answers, the better you write, the faster you complete answers and the better chance you have of qualifying. She has used all materials available in the market for her preparation.
Essay Writing
For Essay, Nupur insists on dedicated preparation. In her first attempt, she scored 140 marks, which is her highest score in Essay Paper. She suggests having varied opinions and quoting sources from Editorials to enrich your essays. She picked introductions and conclusions by reading Yojana. She also concentrated on practicing philosophical topics as she had noticed UPSC delving more deeply into these topics in recent years. She says writing simple and lucid essays with multiple dimensions is the best way forward.
Ethics :
Nupur says her preparation for her optional in Public Administration helped her in Ethics. She integrated examples from Economic Survey, and other such relevant stories about government schemes and committees to enrich her answers. She strengthened her writing and worked on her weaknesses this year to ensure she scores well.
Message For IAS Aspirants :
Nupur says she has learned a few tricks to ensure your preparation is on track –
Writing notes allows you to retain more information.
Do not give up on your dream no matter what.
It is a very difficult journey. To fail and pick yourself up and try again is very hard. But it is this journey that makes you an officer. The courage to accept and the determination to improve are the two keys to success.
