Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Social Cause Invitation to Seminar on "1965 & 1971 India-Pakistan Wars ..."


 

 

 

Social Cause

(Regd. No.614/2003)

 

The 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars took place 51 and 45 years ago respectively, teaching Pakistan a lesson. Yet India continues to be challenged by Pak's proxy war.To throw light on the nagging issue, Social Cause cordially invites you and your friends to a Seminar on –

 

1965 & 1971 India-Pakistan Wars:

How They Shaped India's Security Architecture

 

Principal Speaker:

Maj. Gen. Dhruv C Katoch (Retd.)

Editor, SALUTE Magazine,

Secretary General, Indian War Veterans Association,

Former Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi

 

Guests of Honour:

Sri Prafulla Ketkar

Editor, Organiser, New Delhi

 

Sri Perala Shekhar Rao

Vice-Chairman, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan,

Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India

 

Chair:

Sri K. Padmanabhaiah, IAS (Retd.)

Former Union Home Secretary, Govt. of India; Padmabhushan Awardee

 

Some war veterans who participated in these wars would be felicitated as a symbolic expression of deep gratitude of civil society to our Defence Forces.

 

Date & Time:

20th November, 2016 (Sunday) at 10.30 a.m.

Please join us for tea at 10.00 a.m.

 

Venue:

Conference Hall, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Bella Vista, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad

 

All are welcome

 

Monday, September 5, 2016

Free Hostel facility for students by SLVPCT

Sree Lakshmi Venkateshwara Polapragada Charitable Trust (SLVPCT ) is a voluntary organisation registered in March 1996 as a Charitable Trust . The trust has issued notification for providing free hostel facility to Rural and poor students.The Hostel inmates enjoy the following facilities free of cost:

  • Accommodation
  • Boarding
  • Bus-pass
  • Examination fee, subject to certain conditions
  • Clothes
  • Computer
  • Internet

Last Date 15-09-2016

for more details pls see http://slvpct.org/

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

ITCSA session on 13th Aug. 2016


Mega Awareness & Interactive Session on Civil Services Mains Exam

'Indian Telugu Civil Servants Association' (ITCSA) & Prajahitha are jointly organising an Awareness & Interactive Session on Civil Services Mains Exam for the benefit of aspirants. Many Toppers from recent batches including 2016 batch are attending the event. As the speakers give valuable inputs to the aspirants, it will be a golden opportunity for all the civil services aspirants & beginners for gaining insights into the CSE new pattern & syllabus and also for knowing how to succeed in each stage of the exam  in minimum possible attempts. Voluntary contributions received from this event will be entirely used to support the cause of orphan kids at Laalana Welfare Organisation.

Date: 13th Aug. 2016 (Saturday)

Time: 3.30 PM onwards

Venue: AV College, Domalguda, Hyderabad.

 

All are welcome



(ITCSA is an informal grouping of like-minded Civil Servants hailing from Andhra Pradesh working in different parts of India and abroad. The association uses web-based Google Group named 'ITCSA' as the major platform for interaction among members.  One of the major aims of ITCSA is to guide budding civils aspirants by organizing awareness sessions etc. Anyone can interact with ITCSA members at: www.itcsa.blogspot.com
 
or itcsa2006@gmail.com.

'Prajahitha
' is a registered social service organization established in 2012 and primarily working for all-round development of youth and children, especially those in rural areas who need support and guidance. For details, www.prajahitha.org
 


Laalana
was started on 13 june 2009 with five children. It has at present 30 children ranging in age of 5 to 15 years. All of them have either been abandoned or orphaned. For details  http://laalanawelfare.com/  )

Thursday, August 4, 2016

UPSC ANTHROPOLOGY STRATEGY - by Kirthi Chekuri (Rank – 14)


UPSC ANTHROPOLOGY STRATEGY

Detailed Strategy by Kirthi Chekuri (Rank – 14, Anthro Marks 275, CSE – 2015) – Diagrams, Case Studies and Tips on Presentation


 

Sources I've followed for Anthropology

Paper 1 Socio-Cultural Anthropology – Muniratnam Sir Printed material, Braintree notes

Paper 1 Physical Anthropology – Muniratnam Printed Material, Braintree and P. Nath

Paper 2 Indian Anthropology – Tribal India Nadeem Hasnain, Indian Anthropology Nadeem Hasnain, Muniratnam Printed material, Braintree

I did not cover these books from cover to cover. I've selectively read them based on the topics mentioned in Syllabus. I would suggest having one material/source as a base and then just extracting information/examples/case studies/diagrams regarding that topic from other books in case the content for that topic needs to be enriched.

As long as you can cover the entire syllabus, which books or how many books you follow will not make much difference in my opinion. To get that extra edge in marks, I would strongly suggest focusing on answer presentation instead of reading more and more books.

Answer Presentation

As in GS, what ultimately translates into marks is how you present your answer to the examiner. With the same content/knowledge, some would get more marks in the exam due to better presentation. The reason for my good marks in Anthropology in CSE 2014(271 marks) and CSE 2015(275 marks) is due to focus on presenting the same content or knowledge that everyone else had in a better manner.

I found this article by RajaGopal Sunkara extremely useful and I followed the tips given in the article religiously.

https://sykobanerises.wordpress.com/2015/07/30/anthropology-by-raja-gopal-sunkara-air-49/

I've made the following broad changes in my answers that I think made the difference

  • Side headings: As RajaGopal opined in the above article, they give structure to your answer and makes your answer more readable, presentable and likeable. I had side heads for all the questions (10/15/20 marks)
  • Diagrams: I've attempted questions in the exam that had scope of diagrams/flow charts in them. That included more physical anthropology questions. And also wherever possible I drew diagrams/ figures. Try to include flow charts/ diagrams/ figures/ maps etc. in as many answers as possible. They're sure to make your answers look better and these small incremental changes in my opinion make a huge difference in your marks.

I've come across this list of diagrams somewhere:

  • Case studies: In paper 2, there are many questions, which are very generic, which can be asked in GS1. To make your answers different from GS answers, a friend of mine suggested writing case studies for such questions. I've collected case studies for all generic topics in paper-2 and quoted them in my answer. Instead of quoting many case studies in a single sentence in your answer, I had case study as a separate side heading in the end under which I elaborated. This case study would occupy approx. 1/4th – 1/3rd of my answer.

Have case studies ready for all the generic topics in the Paper-2 so that you can readily quote them on questions on the day of exam. Also have case studies ready for all the generic questions in paper-2 from previous year chapter wise question papers. That'll also ensure that you have structure ready for all probable questions. Case studies could be picked up from internet/ Nadeem Hasnain/ Newspaper (Vedanta POSCO for FRA)

I've mentioned the topics for which case studies are to be collected and some case studies in this link.

  • Examples/ Definitions/ Studies: For questions on marriage/family/kinship etc., it's important to remember a few definitions given by famous thinkers. For questions on socio-cultural anthropology, make a note of examples of tribes you come across while reading (Law and Justice/ different types of descent groups/ Forms of exchange etc. Studies by famous anthropologist can be quoted. For eg. Paulin kolendas made some observations on Joint Family.

Incorporating all these in your answer, in my opinion, would definitely give you that extra edge. Following Chapter Wise Previous Year Question Paper is a must. I used to do all the value additions mentioned above to the previous year questions. Instead of just going through syllabus and reading books, following previous year question papers will channelize your efforts and help in making structured and enriched answers. So, instead of just reading a particular topic, doing those questions will help you make specific value additions (side heads, flow charts, diagrams, examples, case studies etc.) to the answer you'll otherwise miss in reading.

Value additions on some questions

 

  1. Paleolithic Culture (10 marks, CSE-15) – Age, Culture, Geographical distribution, Tools could be side heads. Draw maps under geographical distribution and tools
  2. Longitudinal method of studying growth (10 marks, CSE-15) – value addition by drawing this graph

ias upsc anthropology strategy, kirthi chekuri anthropology strategy

  1. Horticulture (10 marks, CSE-15)- Side heads of Population density, Polity, economy, religion etc. can be used; Can draw a small map suggesting geographical distribution if you know enough tribes across India.
  1. Double descent (10 marks, CSE-14)- Examples should be given and should draw descent group; Taken from Muniratnam printed material.

anthropology strategy, upsc ias anthropology  strategy

  1. Archaeological Anthropology (10 marks, CSE-2015) – A basic flowchart suggesting 3 branches of Archeological anthropology and side heads such as scope, research methodology etc. can be used. Below is the flow chart taken from Muniratnam printed material. It doesn't have to be this elaborate but any basic flow chart would do

upsc ias anthropology preparation, insights ias anthropology

  1. Tribe caste continuum (10 marks, CSE-2014) – Elaborating on one example, drawing a continuum with tribe at one end and caste at other with some features.
  1. Elucidate the skeletal differences between humans and chimpanzees (15 marks,CSE-14) – Can draw a table showing differences between humans and chimpanzees along with diagrams for Skeleton, Skull etc.
  1. Discuss Ageing and Senescence (20 marks, CSE-14). Describe either the biological or social theories of Ageing – A flowchart for different ageing theories and this one taken from P. Nath can be used in answer.

ias anthropology, upsc anthropology optional subject preparation

 

Case Studies

Topics in Paper-2 for which case studies could be collected

5.2 Linguistic and religious minorities and their social, political and economic status.

5.3 Panchayati raj and social change; Media and social change.

6.2 Problems of the tribal Communities – land alienation, poverty, indebtedness, low literacy, poor educational facilities, unemployment, underemployment, health and nutrition.

6.3 Developmental projects and their impact on tribal displacement and problems of rehabilitation. Development of forest policy and tribals. Impact of urbanization and industrialization on tribal populations.

7.1 Problems of exploitation and deprivation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

7.2 Social change and contemporary tribal societies: Impact of modern democratic institutions, development programmes and welfare measures on tribals and weaker sections.

7.3 The concept of ethnicity; Ethnic conflicts and political developments; Unrest among tribal communities; Regionalism and demand for autonomy; Pseudo-tribalism; Social change among the tribes during colonial and post-Independent India.

8.1 Impact of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and other religions on tribal societies.

9.1 History of administration of tribal areas, tribal policies, plans, programmes of tribal development and their implementation. The concept of PTGs (Primitive Tribal Groups), their distribution, special programmes for their development. Role of N.G.O.s in tribal development.

9.2 Role of anthropology in tribal and rural development.

9.3 Contributions of anthropology to the understanding of regionalism, communalism, and ethnic and political movements.

Some 15/20 markers questions from 2015 paper-2 for which case studies could be elaborated.

  • Examine the social implications of media and communication technology – I've written the case study of Community Radio Initiative of a certain tribe in Jharkhand
  • Discuss the impact of Hinduism on the status of tribal women in Central India – case study for this could be picked from Tribal India(Nadeem Hasnain) or searched online
  • Discuss the impact of globalization on village economy in India – Impact of Monsanto and others in Indian villages and farmer suicides can be used?
  • Recently non-government organizations have been critiqued for interfering, with developmental process in tribal heartland. Critically comment.(9.1)
  • Discuss the sociocultural, economic and psychological constraints responsible for low literacy in tribal areas (6.2)

 

CASE STUDIES for some topics

Panchayat raj and Social Change

  • Combating the adverse CSR through Gram Sabhas" – The Bibipur Experience

A small village in the district of Haryana; Sarpanch has held the first ever Mahila Sabha on female foeticide, Women committed to the cause of the girl children have been selected as volunteers, and all pregnancies registered within the first trimester; One panchayat member and volunteer would keep a check on clinics and any case would be brought to immediate notice of police;  helped in reduction of CSR;

The real potential of Panchayati Raj as envisaged by Gandhi can be realized if the disparities and stratification systems based on class caste and gender , and the influence of the dominant castes in the working of PRIs are addressed.  

– Empowering Women. Bhuvneshwari Netam, Sarpanch, Balargaun, Chattisgarh

Netam personally address women at Anganwadi centres on matters related to maternal care,child birth, child care, breast feeding etc. Efforts to make women self sufficient in buying seeds, farming and selling the produce; Earlier villagers defecate in the open, now samuhik shauchalays built by the panchayats ( women do not suffer from the dignity) Panchayats runs schemes to enable differently abled to access financial assistance and education. Also in reclaiming land that was encroached 80 years ago converted to a community complex.  This panchayat has witnessed increased participation of women and the credit for this openness and responsibility with which women contribute is due to the Sarpanch being a woman 

  • Selfie with Daughter

Forest Rights Act

Positive case studies

Niyamgiri in Odisha- Khonds – asserted their rights to conserve culture and community traditional practises under the FRA and PESA; No bauxite mining;

Negatives

Kadars in pallakad dst in Kerala – no access to tradtiional forest reserves – honey cultivators – Non implementation of FRA

Globalisation/ Christianity

It is a fact that the Nagas and certain other North-East tribes opposed very much the entry of Europeans in their areas particularly the missionaries. Today almost 95% Nagas,99% Mizos,80% Khasis,94% Garos have embraced Christianity. Have the tribals of north-east lost their identities? The answer is both yes and no. Those who embraced Christianity, they have lost their nature-centric religion, but they have gain a lot in some other way. In other words, the tribals of north-east have immensely benefited by embracing Christianity. Christian missionaries not only converted them but also set up the best English medium schools, colleges, dispensaries, hospitals and other charitable homes. The numbers of civil servants, university and college teachers, engineers, doctors etc. are increasing day by day. The Bonda tribe of Orissa till yesterday didn't have a matriculate. Only recently the student from Bonda tribe passed matriculation compared with the number of North East tribals in universities.

Media and Social Change

Jharkhand Community Radio Initiative

Best practices

Success story of MFP activity can be used for many questions in paper-2 (Impact of govt. programs on tribals/ Discuss the nature of social change in tribal India under the impact of developmental programmes)

http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/TRIFED-SUCCESS%20STORIES%20ON%20MFP.pdf 

Some success practices in this page can be used for questions on TRIFED/ Cooperatives etc.

http://tribal.nic.in/Content/bestPra.aspx

Case studies can also picked up from Nadeem Hasnain Tribal India

DIAGRAMS

Download them HERE (200+ mb)


Source : http://www.insightsonindia.com


Wednesday, August 3, 2016

‘Digital India Awards- 2016’- Last date for nominations is August 15th

Dear all,

It remains our constant endeavor to push forward the vision of creating a digitally empowered nation. Our journey is incomplete and impossible without the participation of all stakeholders – from Governments to Industry to Institutions to the Citizens residing in the farthest corners of India. We eagerly share new developments of our tireless work through this 5th edition of Digital India eNewsletter.

To encourage innovative participation and build healthy competition, we have introduced three new categories for the Web Ratna Awards 2016 – Web Ratna District, Outstanding Digital Initiative by local body and award for best Mobile App. The award is re-christened as 'Digital India Awards- 2016'. Last date for nominations is August 15th and we urge you to send your entries so efforts can be given due recognition.

Further, systems are being set up to build capacity for digital India by engaging with stakeholders to give ideas and enabling organizations to manage them. Learning and knowledge management systems are also being introduced within the Government systems to update skills of Government officials in order to realise the vision of a Digitally empowered India.

As we engage citizens through apps and social media platforms to give feedback, a system has to be in place to analyze and drive meaningful insights from that feedback to drive policy changes. Rapid Assessment System (RAS) being set up by NeGD is one such initiative. In this edition you will find details about all the initiatives mentioned above and more!

We look forward to you support and feedback in transforming India.

Link to the newsletter is here. http://digitalindia.gov.in/newsletter/2016_july/index.php

I hope the newsletter will be helpful to the readers to track the latest development under Digital India programme. Feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Happy Reading!

Monday, August 1, 2016

General studies preparation plan from C.Kirthi IAS (2016 topper)


Kirthi C

Rank – 14, CSE – 2015


MARKS OBTAINED
SUBJECTS
MARKS
ESSAY (PAPER-I)
125
GENERAL STUDIES -I (PAPER-II)
120
GENERAL STUDIES -II (PAPER-III)
087
GENERAL STUDIES -III (PAPER-IV)
113
GENERAL STUDIES -IV (PAPER-V)
097
OPTIONAL-I (ANTHROPOLOGY) (PAPER-VI)
138
OPTIONAL-II (ANTHROPOLOGY) (PAPER-VII)
137
WRITTEN TOTAL
817
PERSONALITY TEST
161
FINAL TOTAL
978

 

My UPSC Journey

I'm Kirthi Chekuri. I am fortunate enough to have cleared UPSC with 14th rank in my third attempt (CSE-2015). My ranks in previous attempts were 440 in CSE-2013 and 512 in CSE-2014. I was preparing for the exam this time while undergoing the training in academy.

I would try to tell what worked and what didn't work for me. I hope at least someone would benefit from lessons of mistakes that I've committed and how I rectified them. These inputs I'm putting across were the ones I gathered over the course of 4 years from many friends and seniors in services. Thanks to all of them 🙂

Essay

I am a consistently low performer in Essay. I got 100 marks in CSE-2013 and 86 marks in CSE-2014. I lost in my second attempt due to essay. The mistakes I committed in these attempts were not to practice essays, over looking the importance of essay, thinking content in essay would automatically give marks and ignorance of what to be and what not be included in essay.

This year I got 125 which is again not a great score but it didn't pull my rank and my chances down drastically as it happened last year. I brainstormed on many essay topics(introductions/conclusions and flow of ideas)and discussed it with my friends and asked for criticisms.

  • We should clearly mention our stand in the essay initially after the introduction
  • The essay should cover as many dimensions as possible and should have one dominant idea per paragraph
  • The thought in the essay should be as simple as possible. Kids must be able to understand your essay. I used to make essays complicated which never gave good marks
  • Choose the essay topic you're most comfortable with. Don't select the essay based on the perception of most written or least written topic. All that matters is how well are you able to do justice to the topic you've chosen
  • Your essay should have justifications supporting your stand, also include some criticisms against your stand and end in a positive/hopeful way on how things can be bettered etc.

Prelims

All of us tend to overestimate our potential and tend to neglect prelims thinking Prelims marks wouldn't count for the exam. Neglecting prelims can prove to be a very costly mistake. Many toppers in the list cleared prelims with a margin of 1-3 marks. One can understand that 1-2 questions in Prelims can make or break your dreams.

I cleared the Prelims in CSE-2013 by 4 marks. It was a close margin. I got very lucky. In CSE-2014 I cleared prelims with a comfortable margin. My reason for low performance in Prelims 2013 was minimal practice in Quant and playing safe in Paper-1. I knew 45 questions comfortably in paper-1 and I just guessed 10 more there by attempting just 55 questions. Luckily I cleared Prelims that year but after speaking to many successful people in Prelims, I realized it was a very dangerous strategy. In prelims, one should mark the questions in which one is 100% percent sure in the first round. In the second round, one should also try to attempt those questions in which one can eliminate two options. With this strategy, I comfortably cleared prelims in CSE 2014, but in this CSE 2015, I cleared prelims only by 3 marks (110)

Mains

In my first two attempts, my mains marks were marginally above the cut-off(10 marks) I cleared both the attempts only because of my interview. However this attempt, there is a drastic improvement in my mains marks. Here are the few changes I made in my Mains answer writing approach and I think they helped me enormously.

  • Diagrams: I drew a lot of diagrams. India and World Maps for geography or International Relations. Also I prepared diagrams for Geo from NCERT books which I thought I would replicate in case Geo questions come in Paper-1.
  • Side headings: In my first two attempts, my answer was just a flow of paragraphs/points or a mix of both. I realized the importance of side headings for an answer in this attempt. I included side headings in almost all the answers for paper-1,2 and 3 of GS. In paper-2 and paper-3, I used Way Forward as the last side heading for some of the answers.
  • Flow Charts: I drew flow charts in Paper-3. I got 113 marks in Paper-3 and I think flow charts have a role to play along with side headings. People who got good marks in paper-1 drew flowcharts for society questions
  • Breadth instead of Depth: Cover as many dimensions as possible in an answer rather than covering the issue in depth with quality analysis. UPSC prefers the no. of dimensions in an answer and I guess it penalizes an in-depth scholarly answer
  • Introduction: Take the key words of the question and explain them. That becomes the introduction. Eg: An introduction for a question on Cooperative Federalism would mean explaining it

Though I gathered some of these points here and there in my previous attempts, I didn't internalize them in my preparation. I didn't integrate them while preparing for a particular topic. This time whenever I read a topic or whenever I read a question from InsightsonIndia (I have been following answer writing challenges regularly), I give more importance to the above mentioned points- what are the side-headings I can give, how can I draw flow chart for this question, maximizing the dimensions etc. This way, I internalized this way of answer writing during my preparation for GS or Current Affairs, so I didn't have to think afresh on the day of exam. Due to training myself well before hand, I didn't take much time on the day of exam to draw diagrams, flow charts, side-headings etc.

One should try to attempt as many questions as you can in the GS. Unless you are absolutely clueless and can't make an intelligent guess about what's asked, you should not leave questions.

Please go through the question paper in first 2-3 minutes and select the questions you are good at(around 10) and attempt them first. Only then go for the other questions on which you'll have little idea where you have to guess. In the last attempt, I started attempting questions from the beginning without going through the whole question paper and I realized I was left with all the well-known International Relations Questions in the last minute to which I couldn't do enough justice. Do some test exams and if you're not able to finish paper in time, you'll have to improve speed through giving more and more tests and practicing with time limits. Ethics paper was very lengthy and many were not able to finish the paper.

source : www.insightsonindia.com

Monday, July 25, 2016

IAS 2016 ALLOCATION FOR TELUGU STATES

IAS 2016 ALLOCATION TO TELUGU STATES-PATTERN


RANK

NAME

CATEGORY

HOME STATE

STATE ALLOTTED

INSIDE/ OUTSIDE

14

C KIRTHI

OC

AP

AP

I

33

ANAND O

OC

KERALA

AP

O

50

Z.H.KONDIBA

OC

MH

TS

O

64

MISHA SINGH

OC

UP

AP

O

65

VALLURI KRANTHI

OC

AP

TS

O

84

RAMAKRISHNA CH

OC

AP

ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

O

189

MAHESH KUMAR R

OBC

TS

AP

O

193

CHETAN TS

OBC

KA

AP

O

216

VENKATESWAR S

OBC

AP

AP

I

234

P UDAY KUMAR

SC

TS

TS

I

327

JITESH PATIL

OBC

MH

TS

O

343

GOPI B

OBC

TN

TS

O

348

SRIDHAR CHAMAKURI

OBC

TS

KERALA

O

353

KISHORE KSHIRSAGAR

OBC

TS

AGMUT

O

487

P.S. DINKAR

SC

MH

AP

O

528

BADAVATH SANTOSH

ST

TS

TS

I

529

PRIANKA ALA

SC

TS

TS

I

593

P UDAY PRAVEEN

SC

AP

ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

O





Eenadu article on civil service prelims exam Dt. 25-07-2016



Friday, July 15, 2016

KEY FOR THE GENERAL STUDIES PAPER – I Dt. 14-07-16

1

      D

21.

A

41

      D 

61

A

81

     B

2

      D

22.

D

42

B

62

D

82

     D

3

D

     23.

A

43

C

63

A

83

     D  

4

C

24.

C

44

C

64

      C

84

B

5

B

25.

B

45

D

65

B

85

D

6

A

26.

A

46

D

66

C

86

C

7

      D

27.

A

47

B

67

      C

87

D

8

B

28.

      D

48

B

68

D

88

      A

9

C

29.

      D

49

D

69

C

89

D

10

D

30.

      D

50

C

70

D

90

A

11

C

31.

C

51

C

71

B

91

      C

12

B

32.

B

52

A

72

      C

92

      D

13

B

33.

D

53

D

73

      D

93

C

14

C

34.

B

54

D

74

A

94

B

15

D

35.

B

55

C

75

B

95

B

16

D

36.

D

56

D

76

B

96

B

17

D

37.

      C

57

D

77

D

97

      A

18

B

38.

      D

58

D

78

A

98

       A

19

C

39.

A

59

B

79

D

99

C

20

A

40.

D

60

B

80

D

100                                                      

B