How to prepare Current Affairs from Newspapers in Less than one hour for UPSC IAS IPS CSAT Exam

Whether you are preparing for UPSC, GPSC, KPSC, MPPSC, MPSC, UPPSC, IBPS, CAT or any other exam that involves interview and heavy competition, you have to read newspapers.
Why is it important to read the newspaper?
  • Because in the government job exams, at all three stages (preliminary, Mains and interview) . They ask questions related to current affairs.
  • To write a decent essay, you need facts and viewpoints. For this you need “Fodder”, and newspapers are best sources for the fodder material.

Can’t I just use Chronicle, Civil Service Times or Pratiyogita Darpan?

  • Such magazines only serve as “supplement” and not as “substitute” of the newspapers.
  • Why? Because the magazines have the page limit, they cannot give justice to every single topic, even if they wish to. (and because on every second page, they’ve to put big advertisement of coaching classes, to cover the cost.)
  • Same goes for the readymade blogs/ websites dealing with current-affairs, they’re only supplements but not the substitutes of a newspaper.
  • Secondly, such magazines or websites for competitive exams do not help you in the profile-based interview questions or role-playing questions.

What are profile-based interview questions?

  • In the UPSC IAS, IPS or CAT/IIM, Bank or any other job interviews, they ask you questions based on your profile.
  • Your profile is made up of:  Your Location + Academic Background + hobbies and Extra-curricular activities.

Location-based questions

  • Socio, political, administrative and economic problems of your city, district and state.
  • And (Sometimes) the role-playing questions about how will you tackle them, if you’re an inspector, tehsildaar, Collector, DSP, Secretary, etc.

Academic background based questions.

  • For example, if you are an MBBS or Pharmacist, the current affairs relate to TB/HIV/Malaria/Delhi Superbug related research, etc.
  • If you’re a B.A (English): What’s the latest trend in English literature? What was the controversy in the Jaipur literature festival? And so on.

Hobby

  • Tennis, Cricket, Chess, Computer:  then you are supposed to know the current affairs related to that field.

Firefighting

  • Most of the people, whether UPSC, State PSC aspirants or MBA aspirants: they don’t prepare for profile-based questions or current affairs until the 11th hour. (i.e. When the interview or group-discussion (GD) is barely 20-30 days away).
  • Then They start google searching for GK related to their profile.
  • In such a short time, you cannot cover all satisfactorily. Therefore, daily reading of newspaper is essential.

Which newspapers should I read

  • Even if you’re going to write your Mains exam in Hindi/ Gujarati/ Tamil / Telugu medium, still you should refer to English newspapers because the local newspapers only serve the “masala” news of politics, cricket and Bollywood.

Should I read more than one newspaper?

  • It depends on your time and energy, otherwise one newspaper is enough.
  • You might have seen some coaching “Sirs” advising that you must-read  Hindu and Economic Times (ET). I think, this is an overkill. You don’t have to become a share market expert. If there is some really good columnist in ET (for example, example Bibek Debroy), then following him is excellent, but you don’t have to go through two or three “Whole” newspaper per day.

What are the important items in a newspaper?

First go through the old question papers of UPSC (at least last three years), that should give you a rough idea on what questions are asked directly or indirectly from newspaper. And then read the newspaper keeping that in mind.

Administration/ Polity

  1. Press conference of government, where they announce various policies, administrative reforms etc. (I’m talking about the press conference of union and State government, not the press conference of Congress and BJP.)
  2. Various bills, minutes of Cabinet meetings.
  3. The big full-page advertisements given by ruling party, about their achievements. (This usually comes before the election and on the birth anniversary of Nehru Gandhi Family). It is important because, they list out the various developmental schemes and provisions in it. Most important part is “who runs the scheme?” for example NREGA thing for under the jurisdiction of rural development Ministry (and not under Labour Ministry)
  4. Election related items: what will the initiatives taken by the election commission? Any problems or controversies.
  5. You have to prepare these for both Union as well as your own state Government. (Your state-Government  schemes and Administrative reforms for the “profile Based Questions”)

What is not important?

  1. Press conferences of political parties and civil society.
  2. No need to do Ph.D on every scam. All you have to do is brief highlight of what was the scam, how was it committed, what is the presence status in investigation or court and how to prevent it in future. You don’t have to go in minute details like on 23rd October 2007, Mr XYZ the accountant of store-dept in Commonwealth games misreported a 50 rupees ball for Rs.5000. Learn to skip the garbage sentences while you are reading a news item.
  3. Same goes for elections: The XYZ by-elections were conducted on 23th October 2004 in which Mrs. XYZ wife of ABC belong with JYZ Political party defeated

National News

  • Maoists kidnap a collector = name of the collector is not important. But now experts and politicians say we need a comprehensive hostage-crisis guideline after this incidence= important.
  • Railway accidents, how many killed =not important. Reason for  the rail accident and suggestions to prevent future accidents = important.
  • SP says BSP took 50 crores or vice versa = not important.
  • How many killed in floods, landslides or tsunamis on which date= not important. But the reason behind those geographical phenomenons = important.
  • ISRO sends an artificial satellite = important. How much does it weigh? = not important.
  • When and How many men did leopards kill in Maharashtra = not important. Why is leopard killing men in Maharashtra= important. What is Government  doing to stop the leopard? = important.

International News

  1. Bilateral visits of prime ministers and presidents. What treaties or trade pacts did they sign?
  2. What is going on in UN, IMF, World Bank?
  3. Elections in the big nations : USA, Russia, China, France, UK.
  4. Political or military coup (usually in South America and Africa.)
  5. Any major event: the democratic uprising in Middle East, Israel palestine, US vs China / Russia missile defence, NATO-Afghanistan and so on.
  6. Meetings of organisations such as ASEAN, G20 etc , and particularly what India did in such conferences and meetings.
  7. Climate change, environment related news.
  8. Science and Tech related items for example CERN, China’s space program, missle tests by N.Korea, Iran’s nuke program and so on.

What is not important?

  1. Lady Gaga or Justine Timberlake’s world tours.
  2. How many people are killed in a car bomb blast in Pakistan or Afghanistan?
  3. XYZ researchers found out that eating tomato daily helps preventing tooth ache = not important.
  4. Anything “small-time”, that does not affect future of the World. For example sex-scandles of Italian PM or marital wooes of Sarkozy.

Economy

  1. Press conference or press note by Government, SEBI, RBI, Planning Commission etc.
  2. ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM etc. (they usually complaint or suggest about Government policies that affect the business houses.)
  3. Columns and Editorials related to Economy.
  4. IIP, GDP, WPI, CPI etc. Not the “numbers” but the reasons behind that number and the future because of that number.
  5. International: ASEAN, World Bank, EU etc.
  6. Those preparing for Bank exams, should also note down the names of Chaimen of various companies and banks.

What is not important in Economy

  1. Daily Ups and downs of sharemarket.
  2. “Numbers”. Because Economy is not about number but the meaning, history and future related to that number.
    1. For example, if IIP was 0.13 on Jan-2012.  That itself is not important. Whether it was 0.13 or 0.128? that is not important.
    2. Important Questions are : is this IIP good or bad? And why is it good or bad? What’ll be its impact on future of Indian economy and Government / RBI policies?

FrontPage

  1. There is a narrow column on the left hand side of the front page, most of the time, the yearbook related information, government schemes etc. appear here.
  2. The main news item on the frontpage:  it is usually “not-very-important”. Reason most of the time it is the political news. For example, “Bihar Mahadalit Land Racket.” If you are a candidate from Bihar, you should read it, for the others, it is not worth it.

Columns / Editorials

Question: What is a column / Editorial?

  • These are big paragraphs like articles in the centre pages of a newspaper.
  • Generally each article has photo of the author and usually the author gives a 20 years’ old photo when he/she was in college. If you ever happen to see them in actual TV Debate, it turns out they’re quite older than what they look in the newspapers.
  • Editorial is written by the editor himself. For example Shekhar Gupta for IndianExpress on Saturday. While Columns are written by experts (including self-proclaimed experts) on a particular topic of politics, economy, international events.

What to prepare from Columns/ Editorials?

  • Usually columns are made up of 7-8 paragraphs. But not every sentence and line is important; there are just 3-4 gemstones in it, which you can use in your mains / essay / interview answers. So just note them down.
    • Some people use highlighters to mark important lines and then file those newspaper cuttings. So do whichever method suits you (noting down or filing the cuttings).
  • But Not every column is worth your time and energy. For example in Indianexpress, there is one guy writes about Nepal’s political turomil every week. But in Nepal, the Prime ministers are changed every week and this guy happens to give ball by ball commentery of everything. It’s not worth the “Cost-benefit” ratio. So skip him.
  • Similarly there is one Yogindar Alagh in Indianexpress, who pretends to write on rural Development but just “I did this and that when I was a minister”=Not important.
  • Maintain the balance: some column writers have a habit of being totally cynical and anti-Government.  For example Tavleen Singh of Indianexpress, while I do admire her for having  the guts to openly write against Sonia, Mohan and Rahul, but in your answers, You must not admire or criticize a particular individual (minister / politician) in the mains / interview. And don’t prepare a line that is “too leftist” or “too rightists.”
  • And if you criticise the Government, then you should also offer the reform suggestions.

Sports / music / life-style/ Bollywood

  • Lifestyle = painting, pottery, music, fashion events etc. most of which cannot be afforded by middle class people.
  • The last 3-4 pages of English newspaper are devoted to this. if your “hobby” is tennis or chess, then you must follow the related sport-news.
  • For others, I say just skip it. Anything historic about Sports will get published in the competitive magazines and or the free blogs/ current-affairs related websites anyways. So daily following these sports-pages = not worth the time and energy.
  • Bollywood and cricket related news = not important in any case. Unless something related to administration or polity for example should BCCI be brought under RTI? And the copyright act vs Bollywood.

How to read the newspaper in less than 1 hour?

Needs certain tools.
  1. A study-desk or Table
  2. A Red colored 0.7mm ballpoint pen and or a red sketch pen.
  3. Loose papers, folders, notebooks 
  4. And last but not the least a newspaper.

The beginning

Keep the red pen handy.
I’m taking Gujarat Edition of Indian express as reference; just follow the same procedure for your City /State’s edition of Indianexpress/ Hindu.

The front-page and second page

Circle down on important lines from the news (which news, that is already explained above).

Third, fourth and fifth page

Is usually Gujarat / Ahmedabad news for example
  • 20 people died in car accident in rajkot
  • xyz girl eloped with a neighbour
  • A cop was found taking bribes
  • Stone-pelting and rioting in XYZ part of Ahmedabad after a cricket match.
  • Keshubhai Patel said XYZ against Narendra Modi.
  • Sanjay Joshi’s men have put posters against Modi in Ahmedabad.
^none of above, is important.

Then what is important?

  • Navjivan Trust of A’bad says no to Gujarati version of “Let’s kill Gandhi” written by Tushar Gandhi.
  • Gujarat Maritime Board and pollution board gives clearance to ship-breaking of Exxon Valdez, but NGO lobby says it contains dangerous chemicals. (Names are not important, but the important part is the big “environmental issue vs. livelihood of ship-breakers in Alang”
  • Gujarat State Government launches “Girl Child education” and “School enrollment drive”.
  • Ahmedabad Municipal corp will give Rs.250/- to all Government  school students who live more than 3 kms from the school, apart from the mid-day meal, Bicycle distribution and Vidhyalaxmi scheme.
We are done with 5 pages

The 6 to 9 Page

  • These are devoted to “national news”
  • Only concentrate on important exam oriented news. Underline the important lines using your red pen.

Page 10-11 (Columns and Editorials)

  • Highlight the gemstones and move on.

Page 12-13 (International)

  • Highlight the important news lines and move on.

Page 14 (TV, Astrology, Cartoon strips)

  • Highlight the important news lines for example the timing of Balika Vadhu. Haha just kidding, skip this page.

Page 15-16 (Business and economy)

  • Most important. Scan through every item, including small box news. Highlight the gemstones, if there are any important diagrams, cut and file them.

Page 17-20 (Bollywood, Lifestyle, Sports)

  • Skip it.
We are done highlighting the important newslines. Now it is time for review.

The Review

  • Go through those red lines and either write them in the relevant notebook / cut and file it.
  • Your can either keep five separate full-scape notebooks. OR you can write these in loose papers and then file it in five separate folders.
  • The advantage of loose papers = you can add more pages between, when the follow up news comes. For example in case of QFIs. Same is not possible in a notebook.
Folder / NotebookSorting
AdministrationAll the polity, administration, Development related items should be either written or pasted here.
EconomicsSame exercise
Your profileOne file or notebook, make three sub-parts in it. First part- write or paste the state/city related news. Second part- about your academic background
Third part- news related to hobbies.
S&TAll the science-tech, environment, climate change related stuff.
InternationalSame exercise
^ you don’t have to write the entire sentences highlighted in red-pen but just the keywords or phrases that’d help you recall the entire issue.
In the beginning, this’d be time-consuming mental torturing exercise.
But with time, you’ll develop the expertize of weeding out the unimportant news and note down the gemstones.
  • I’ve seen Maestros who write the summary note of entire The Hindu newspaper on just one side of an A4 sized paper, without missing even a single important item. They don’t read every line of a newspaper, their eyes are trained to scan through the lines and hand automatically highlights the keywords. It’s an art and can be mastered only by practice  Daily writing habit also improves your handwriting speed, which is again important for the Mains exam.
  • Like a professional athlete This must be your daily regime as long as you’re a contender. Just because prelims are over or just because mains are over, doesn’t mean you stop this. You’ve to do this on daily basis.
5 Upsc Gyan: 2013 Whether you are preparing for UPSC, GPSC, KPSC, MPPSC, MPSC, UPPSC, IBPS, CAT or any other exam that involves interview and heavy competi...

IAS SUCCESS STORIES

This year 11 candidates from Jammu and Kashmir made it to the final list of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. Eight successful candidates hail from Kashmir, while the other three belong to Jammu. In their pieces exclusively written for GK Education and Career page, here five IAS qualified Kashmiri youth write about the meaning of their success and how Kashmiri youth can excel in competitive exams.

‘Kashmiris are second to none’
By Showkat Ahmad Parray
Rank 41
It was June 2008 and uncertainty loomed large. Few representatives of J&K unemployed veterinary doctors association (I being one of them) were running from pillar to post  at the civil secretariat Srinagar, meeting officers, trying to apprise them of our problems and putting in our best efforts to convince them of the need to create adequate posts of veterinary assistant surgeons. Few listened to us while many disapproved and shut the door on us. Disillusioned and disheartened, we moved along the streets of Lal Chowk, with drooping shoulders, trying to pacify and console each other for the sheer disrespect and humiliation we suffered. 
The words of my father uttered way back started reverberating in my mind. While working in the apple orchards in July 2003, my father had quoted a Quranic verse and a couplet of Allama Iqbal (R.A):
Mita de apni hasti ko agar kuch martaba chahey
Ki daana khak main mil kar gul-o-gulzar hota hain
I found myself frozen in time and it suddenly occurred to me that joining F.V.Sc & A.H was just a small cog in the wheel of a long and arduous path towards a bigger pursuit. I found myself in a bookstore laying my hands on a copy of “India’s struggle for freedom” by Bipin Chandra and “An introduction to Indian constitution” by D.D.Basu”.  Thus began my journey for civil services.
With the benefit of hindsight, I would sum up the journey as a roller coaster ride. It has been quite enriching, enthralling and a highly value-adding exercise to say the very least.  Given the humble background I came from, I had never dreamt of being a civil servant in my wildest imagination. I had a strong conviction in the notion that every human being owes its existence to the Almighty and he has a role cut out for him in more ways than one. 
In my two previous two attempts of CSE-2009 (rank 256) and CSE-2012 (rank 41), the difference perhaps was only in the availability of the resources (study material for current affairs, national dailies and magazines), the degree of exposure and most importantly the luck of the draw. Few mistakes that I could have avoided during my previous attempt came to the fore:
1). Not consulting some civil servant for basic guidance.
2). Waiting for the results of prelims before starting the preparation for mains.
3). Not consulting some civil servant while filling up the preference for various services (that landed me in IP&TAFS instead of IRS).
I believe there are two fundamental approaches to our lives. Either we move towards an enlightened goal with clear intentions devoid of any ulterior motives (akin to moving towards the sun) and let the shadows chase us, or we chase the shadows with our back turned towards the enlightened goals set for us ( akin to moving away from the sun). For me the former holds true. The shadows have followed my destiny. I am conscious of the fact that I shouldn’t read too much into my success story. The long term goal is still far away but achievable. I am reminded of lyrics of a song from Nikah movie: Bujhi magar bujhi nahin na jane kaisi pyaas hain....” And I hope that this unquenchable thirst remains and never allows me to be complacent.
The year 2009 was the watershed moment for the Kashmiri youth. That year Dr. Shah Faesal led the way by topping the civil services along with Rayees Bhat, myself and Dr. Umair Mir. Our success was celebrated and most importantly doing away with the unknown fear of competing in the civil service exam at the national level and rubbing shoulders with the best in the country. Kashmiri youth started believing in their abilities and the results are very tangible and for everyone to see. Kashmiris have shown that they are second to none.
For a common man, the success of J&K youth at the national level will be meaningful only if it brings about a change. A change that improves service delivery, improves his quality of life, brings back his lost self-respect, respects his basic human rights and values and alters the manner he is treated by the officials. 
A person who is unable to meet even his basic needs of life is indifferent about the agent of change vis-a-vis whether that change is brought about by a person in the mainstream, upstream, downstream or out of the stream. What matters is his life are his basic needs and his human dignity. Instead of trying to read too much between the lines in the success of J&K students at the national level, let’s wholeheartedly welcome this change to celebrate and bring about a difference at the grassroots level for ordinary people. Reiterating an old adage “Try to be outstanding in the ocean of mediocrity “.

‘An average aspirant can achieve his goal’
By Khursheed Ali Qadri
Rank 95 
I have done M.Sc Botany from Jamia Hamdard. I also qualified NET JRF and was selected as 10+2 Lecturer. Later on I was selected in KAS. I also qualified UPSC in 2010, got group A central service but didn’t join. Currently I am working as Assistant Director in CAPD.
I believe the civil services exam conducted by UPSC at national level requires at the vary inception certain enigmas to be demystified. It is never anything unattainable for an average aspirant. The fundamentally inevitable requirement that pique the curiosity of the aspirants is that the aspiration must come from inside. I always believe that we should struggle for excellence rather than struggle for existence. 
Well designed strategy and effective preparation plays a key role for cracking civil service exams. Since I had a limited time, being already in the government services, my strategy and design of preparation was simple and more effective. Before an aspirant starts his preparation, he must divide and delineate in his mind a very clear and unambiguous strategy. The aspirant must be planned in his efforts and must continuously update himself with current affairs. Kashmiri people are very talented and if their intellect and talent is channeled in a right way, they will bring a sea change in the overall development of the society.
There is a desperate need to develop a conducive environment so that the efforts put in are productive. The comprehensive counseling programs, initiatives of colleges and university in this direction are required for motivating the aspirants. 
My advice to the aspirants is “efforts may fail but never fail to make efforts””. An average aspirant can achieve his goal and I am a symbol of it.
I feel that the representation of Kashmiri youth in civil services reflects a healthy development and instills a sense of hope. In recent years this healthy trend is molding the thought process of youth and young people want to be the part of development and join civil services.

‘Study hard and remain focused’
By Adnan Nayeem Asmi
Rank is 189 
I have done my schooling in Srinagar–till class 11th from Tyndale Biscoe School and class 12th from S.P. H Secondary.  I topped the state board in humanities stream in class 12th, and was awarded with state gold medal. I then pursued graduation from St-Stephens College, University of Delhi in B.A (Program), with Political Science and Economics subjects. Thereafter I started my preparations for UPSC exams. Currently I am pursuing Master’s degree in Sociology from Kashmir University.
Civil services has been my dream from class 12th itself. Inspiration was drawn from family itself, from my late grandfather, Professor Mohammad Sharief who inculcated the concept of this exam in me. My dream got direction in college, which has been a factory of producing civil servants.
Yes, the journey has been tough. It took me three attempts to finally make it. But at same time it was a tremendous learning curve. This process brings out the best in you and also makes your views broader. 
My hard work wouldn’t have been fruitful had I not been blessed with conducive and a desirable atmosphere.  I would like to extend my gratitude, first of all to almighty Allah. And my gratitude is also to my parents and younger brother for their untiring patronage and affection.
 Suggestions for future aspirants:
My message is simple: “if you can dream you can do it.” Study hard; remain focused, let nothing whatsoever distract you. Trust in God, stay humble and bring the change within. Increase your strengths and reduce your weaknesses. Don’t go overboard in doing so. We are all humans, so everyone has limitations. The important thing thus is to be tolerant and to constantly strive hard.
Constantly follow all the recent happenings at all levels: local, national and international. Everything is important in its own place. Separating wheat from chaff can come only with experience and thorough preparation. Newspapers and journals are the flesh and blood of the exam preparation, because the examination is based on current issues. Even the optional papers have maximum quotient of that. Plus the exam is a combination of theory and application. Unless one is acquainted with worldly happenings, one can’t even fancy ones chances to make it. I personally referred to following papers and magazines: The Hindu. Frontline; Chronicle; World Focus. Greater Kashmir, Yojna, All India Radio news.
All the three stages of the exam have to be taken with all seriousness. Both papers of the screening test, i.e. preliminary exam need detailed and vast study. Recent trends suggest its becoming highly conceptual rather than factual. The second paper, i.e. CSAT, needs consistent and thorough practice. The time management for the exam decides the fate of the candidate.
The mains stage: Under the revised pattern of exam only one optional subject is to be taken, so choosing has become slightly easy. Still, familiarity with the subject, level of comprehending it and the desired result, i.e. marks one can secure in the subject has to be weighed before deciding. But at same time the quotient of general studies papers has been more than doubled, so the role of newspapers and journals has further increased.
Personality test as the name itself suggests is test of one’s personality and not of knowledge (that has been tested already in the written exams). But that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t be aware of recent happening and ones background. One should know himself or herself thoroughly. And most importantly, one has to be completely honest and transparent to the board members. A little lie or concealment of information can ruin your chances

Realize your potential and harness it’ 
By Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar
Rank 23 
At the very outset it is important to realize that IAS is the mother of all exams and therefore a thorough, concerted and conscientious effort is a pre-requisite for success. To begin with any aspirant must carefully analyse the requirements of this exam. The exam seeks to select officers for running the higher echelons of governance in the country. Thus as a natural corollary any serious aspirant must have or inculcate certain basic qualities which include a progressive and constructive mindset, the ability to think rationally and objectively, innovative ideas, dispassionate decision making ability and above all a confident and optimistic persona.
The exam overall is a prolonged three-stage process, which includes the preliminary, mains and the personality test. At all three stages the aspirant is required to process vast information with a deep understanding and analysis of the issues. The idea is to clear your concepts and then to apply them practically. The preparation for all three stages should be holistic, taking into account multiple dimensions and perspectives of a topic. Also the need is to make ones knowledge broad based.
Important pre-requisites for success:
The choice of optional in the mains should be contingent upon ones interest and the availability of study material. There is no good or bad optional and the decision to choose an optional must not be based on a herd mentality, hearsay or random trends.
 The choice of study material is of prime importance. Considering the level of these exams, standard books should be referred to for any subject. Further it is better to master limited number of standard books than to read large number of books superficially.
 Time management is crucial to success in this exam. Both quality and quantity of preparation time is important. Study effectively and efficaciously to the extent one can.
Have Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound (SMART) goals. Above all cultivate the habit to work hard with single minded dedication and focus, not being distracted by adverse circumstances or situations. 
It is a matter of common observation that people from J&K are gifted with par excellence intellectual endowment. Therefore this exam is a natural opportunity to put to test this endowment that a candidate possesses. All that is required is proper guidance and directed efforts with the right approach .There is no dearth of talent or the capacity to work in adverse circumstances in the state, particularly in Kashmir. The people of J&K are by nature resilient and have great potential to succeed in the toughest of competitions at the national level. The need of the hour is to realize their inner potential and harness it in a positive way. This is all the more required of the youth from the Valley so that they become agents of positive change and usher in a new era of growth and development for all in the society.
If more and more people come into the IAS and IPS from the valley, it will be a great instrument of building a brighter future for our state. Having been through decades of turbulence, it is all the more important for us to work collectively for a good future.
I would like the youth of J&K, particularly those from Kashmir, not to be subservient to any negativity and neither be pessimistic about their future. As Churchill says, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
 ‘The success of Kashmiri youth in civil services should be seen in the light of their personal desires to make a mark in their career’
By Dr Ruveda Salam
Rank 820  
The thought of cracking civil services examination crosses the mind of almost every undergraduate student. However, only few make it their goal and pursue it after completing their graduation and I am one amongst them. I remember when I was in school my father would tell me, "one day my daughter would become an IAS officer." The prestige associated with civil servants and the considerable impact they have on the development of our society was always an enticement for me to become one. Therefore, I had made up my mind to compete for civil services immediately after I had completed MBBS.
 The perseverance and patience that I had developed in Govt. Medical College,  Srinagar came in handy for my IAS preparation. This exam entailed one or two years of zealous preparation. In the meantime I decided to appear in KAS exam in 2009 and qualified it in 2011. My KAS probation and subsequent job assignments prevented me from taking up coaching. Hence, I made it a point to study whenever I found time in between my work and almost for 4 to 5 hours at home every day. The syllabi and pattern of IAS exam varies considerably from that of KAS and therefore I had to adapt to IAS pattern for almost a year before my IAS prelims, 2012.
I was well aware of the fact that the majority of other IAS aspirants were undergoing quality coaching in Delhi and elsewhere. But this never became a handicap for me, as I was my own student and a teacher. I learnt from my mistakes and kept an eye on previous year's question papers, which helped me in deciding what not to read. My preparation for prelims, mains and personality test was an integrated one. While reading a particular topic I would mark out facts for prelims, opinions for personality test and details for main examination. I read standard NCERT textbooks, newspapers like The Hindu, one competition magazine - civil services chronicle, wikipedia, Yojana and Kurukshetra journals for General Studies in both prelims and mains. Arihant's CSAT helped me immensely in prelims paper II. My optionals were Public Administration and Sociology. For Public Administration, I read Fadia and Fadia, Sadhna and Sharma, Prasad and Prasad, Rajni Goyal and Arora and Laxmikanth. For Sociology, I referred to IGNOU B.A course material, George Ritzer, Haralambos and Yojana. 
Since Personality test mostly revolves around one's place of birth and place of education and work, I was, therefore, in touch with local dailies on everyday basis. Handling negative marking at prelims stage and managing time at mains stage was made possible by me through regular practice of answering previous year's question papers. At every step of my endeavor I had the support and encouragement of my parents, who respected my decision to forego my social engagements. At times, it was quite tiresome to continue my studies after appearing at each stage of the exam, but my enthusiasm to achieve my goal never died down. And despite hurdles on the personal and job fronts, I progressed gradually with firm faith in the almighty.
There are many mistakes aspirants commit during their preparation for IAS exam, which need to be minimized, if not possible to be avoided. To start with, many aspirants take up coaching without verifying the credentials and success track record of coaching institutes. Only successful candidates can help one in deciding for him or her. The decision of taking up coaching must be in tune with one's requirements. It's important to first read standard books prescribed by most experts rather than straight away jumping to notes as this exam requires basic understanding of issues and is an ever evolving platform. Negative marking must be minimized by avoiding guesswork and taking minimum risk in prelims. It's significant to start preparing within two weeks after prelims for mains irrespective of one's performance in prelims as it will help not just in the ensuing mains but also in the subsequent prelims exam. 
Revision is the key to fetch more marks in mains, without which ones hope to crack this exam turns into despair. Choosing one's optionals should be based primarily upon one's interest in the subject, rather than hearsay, as the same would make the journey enjoyable without losing interest. The changed pattern of mains from this year demands wide coverage of newspapers, journals, internet and good observation skills to fall In line with the increased weightage given to general studies instead of emphasizing more on optional subject.
I believe aspirants from J&K have great potential to not just crack Civil services exam but other competitive exams like SSC, IIT/JEE etc as well. Awareness regarding diverse career opportunities and the strategy to grab and achieve them is generally lacking, more so, in the valley. Internet, newspapers and career magazines can help in this regard. The great beginning made by senior civil servants to motivate youth towards civil services has to be continued by the subsequent qualifiers. In this regard, I would advise young aspirants to seek help from such officers via e mail and social networking sites, in terms of clarification of their doubts and the correct strategy to be adopted in realizing their career related dreams.
Civil Services has now become a game changer among the list of careers available for J&K's youth. Their efforts to be a part of the elite service have borne fruit. Civil servants rise above political considerations and their contributions towards society is a part of the whole gambit of steps taken by political authorities to resolve disputes, prevent alienation of citizens, minimization of human rights violations and restoration of peace and development. The success of Kashmiri youth in civil services should be seen in the light of their personal desires to make a mark in their career and play a positive role in ensuring welfare for the people.
5 Upsc Gyan: 2013 This year 11 candidates from Jammu and Kashmir made it to the final list of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. Eight succ...

Behind her IAS success story, is her school drop-out husband

Twenty-nine-year-old Rashmi Siddharth Zagade, a housewife from Warje Malwadi, is the only woman IAS officer from Pune city in the year 2010, holding 169th rank among over 800 candidates. But her success story has been scripted by her husband Siddharth Zagade who is a school drop out.
Rashmi's IAS saga began in 2003. Though she could not make it in four attempts, she never thought of giving up. "That is because I had my husband's support," she says. After four consecutive unsuccessful attempts — the fourth time she reached the interview stage — Rashmi decided to take a break for a year. This time when she reappeared, she opted for history instaed of geography.
Till she graduated in BSc (Zoology), Rashmi had no clue what an IAS exam was all about. "It was my husband who prodded me to appear for the exam," she says. "My father expired when I was a child. My mother was not educated and our family had to struggle to make ends meet. So I could not continue my education. I always wanted to become an IAS officer. And now my dream has ben realised through my wife," says Siddharth.
To convert their dream into reality, the couple sold their flat, 5-acre land in their native place and Siddharth even gave up his retail business in Tulshibaug. "I decided to concentrate fully on Rashmi's preparations for IAS exam. We bought books and other study material, she joined IAS coaching classes nearer home. We even changed the school of our daughter so that we could save time. I spent hours discussing national and international issues with Rashmi," says Siddharth. "My husband is Class IX pass, but his general awareness and knowledge is better than mine," says Rashmi. A former student of HHCP high school, Huzurpaga, Rashmi took her written exam and interview in Marathi. "Since my schooling was in Marathi, I opted for Marathi which comes naturally to me," she says.
Now moving a step further Rashmi, wants to help out those who dream of becoming an officer but don't have the wherewithal for it. "I will guide, provide books and study material to all IAS aspirants in the city. There are several students like me who have a dream, but no support or guidance to make it big. I am there for them," says Rashmi.
5 Upsc Gyan: 2013 Twenty-nine-year-old Rashmi Siddharth Zagade, a housewife from Warje Malwadi, is the only woman IAS officer from Pune city in the year 201...

Two success stories with a message for IAS aspirants

Rank-holders prove medium of instruction and coaching centres don't matter

It is a tale of two candidates who overcame different odds to emerge successful in the all-important Civil Services examinations, whose results were announced on Friday. While one has proved that poverty is not an impediment to success, the other has shown that there is absolutely no need for coaching centres to clear the country's top examinations.
Both of them have brought pride to their families. Gopala Sundara Raj of Ramanathapuram secured the 5th place at the all-India level and the first place at the State level and R.V. Karnan of Sri Ram Nagar in Karaikudi in Sivaganga got the 158th rank.
Mr. Raj comes from Mavila Thoppu, a tiny village near Kilakarai. His mother S. Rajammal and father S. Shanmugavel could not study beyond standards III and V respectively.
Though they thought of putting him in English medium school since the early stage, their abject poverty did not allow them to do so.
However, the perceived disadvantages of having studied in the Tamil medium in no way affected his performance in the Civil Services examinations.
“I have no words to describe my happiness. Raj has not studied in a sophisticated atmosphere. He has brought meaning to our life. The hard work, sheer determination, dedication and sincerity have made him so special in our life. My pain is that his father is no more to hear the happiest news in our lifetime,” says S. Rajammal.
Her family owns no land or house and she is residing in a portion of her brother Mariappan's house, a retired school headmaster.
His moral support and motivation helped Mr. Raj, who is currently an agricultural scientist in Rajasthan, in his endeavour. His sister, Sundara Yoga Lakshmi, is working with Infosys in Chennai.
Mr Karnan (27) was the all-India topper in the Indian Forest Service examinations in 2007.
His father R. Veeraragavan (56) is working as a librarian at Alagappa Arts College and his mother V. Vijayalakshmi is a sub-registrar in Karaikudi.
“My dream has come true. The Civil Services examinations are all about clearly understanding the methods and patterns well. I didn't join any coaching classes for the preparations,” Mr. Karnan toldThe Hindu over phone from Maharashtra, where he is working as Assistant Conservator of Forests.
5 Upsc Gyan: 2013 Rank-holders prove medium of instruction and coaching centres don't matter It is a tale of two candidates who overcame different...

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