Time Management

Every individual on earth has the same amount of time - 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour; 1,440 minutes in a day; and 525,600 minutes in a year. While a vast majority of people confesses faltering to come to grips with it, extremely few can claim to have made the most of it. How is it that they have got it all done? It's because they have managed a way to figure out how to manage their time effectively.

Time Management is more than just managing time. It is about controlling the use of the most valuable - and undervalued - resource. It is managing oneself in relation to time. It is setting priorities and taking charge of the situation and time utilization. It means changing those habits or activities that cause waste of time. It is being willing to adopt habits and methods to make maximum use of time.
Click this Link...http://cgg.gov.in/Handbook%20on%20Time%20Management%20Skills.pdf

Email Etiquettes

Here are some Email Rules which we should follow in our day-to-day email communications; office or personal.
We call them 'Email Etiquettes'.
 
1. Indent: Keep your mail in Left Indent format. This is the American style and currently being followed.
Alignment: Keep as 'Justified'.
 
2. Recipients: If you are sending a message to more than one person, it is advisable to keep the recipients in 'Bcc' instead of 'To'. Also in such case, address the recipients by 'Hi', 'Hello', 'Greetings', etc.
If the recipient is a female, address as 'Ms. X' (this is irrespective of the female being married or single). Same applies to a male recipient.
Do NOT use 'Good Morning' and alike, since you never know at what time of the day the recipient may read your message.
 
3. Font style, Font size: Most preferred font style and size is 'Verdana 10 pt'. If you wish to have give a colour, it should not be anything else than black, blue.
 
4. Spell Check: Please use the Spell check facility in your mailbox without fail. Every email service provides this useful facility.
 
5. Length of a paragraph: Avoid extending one paragraph above 5 lines.
 
6. Avoid using 'Smileys' unnecessarily, especially in official communications.
 
7. Apply your brains while 'Replying to All'. If not necessary, avoid 'Reply All' function.
 
8. Signatures (for official purpose only): It is advisable to keep a pre-designed signature for your outgoing mails. When composing a mail at first place, it is advisable to use the full signature details. While replying to mails, reduce your signature details by half.
Signature should have: Your name (first and last only), Designation, Department Name, Organisation Name & Address, Contact details(direct or reception or cell).
 
9. Avoid sending mails on official email addresses if you have the recipients personal email address. Many corporates consider 'sending to and receiving of mails from external media as Risk issue'.
 
10. If you have said 'Please find attached', ensure that you attach and re-check the attached document, before sending.
 
11. Hitting the 'SEND' button should be the last task. Do not hurry in sending the communication, since once sent, it's gone for forever.
 
12. Avoid being unnecessarily 'informal in formal communications' and 'vice-versa'.
 
13. Do not write a mail when you are in a hurry. If you are not able to reply in detail, just reply as "Will get back to you soon".
 
Happy Emailing ! ! !

General Points for Exam Preparation

Dear Friends,

 

I'd like to share some of the tips/suggestions connected with Exam preparation. These tips/suggestions are very general in nature and very easy to implement and you may use them for any kind of exam preparation. Sincerely hope that these tips/suggestions would be off some help in your exam preparation.

 

1. Figure out your mistake or reason for low marks, if any, in the previous Examination and promise yourself to avoid them in your next exam.

 

2. Focus on your Study and Goal. In short your vision towards your future must be crystal clear.

 

3. Plan your revision schedule as early as possible and follow the same honestly and keep reviewing it and make necessary changes as and when necessary.

 

4. Invest your time in Exam oriented discussion. There are two advantage of this activity:

i.        You may discuss your problems during such discussions and resolve them quickly in the early stage.

ii.      These discussions will also help you to focus on your goal.

 

5. Work out on your presentation skills as your presentation and writing skills plays an important role in your exam success.

 

6. In examination hall length of answer plays an important role due to time factor. Keep this factor in mind and plan your answer accordingly.

 

7. Mental strength is very important. So prepare yourself mentally and physically for Examination cum War.

 

8. Very Important Revision Tips: What you prepare on Monday try and recall it on Tuesday without using books. If you are able to recall 60%-70%, then you are 100% going to succeed in this examination. Again try to recall the same after the gap of 2-3 days.

 

9. Use abbreviation method. If you have 10 points to remember in a question give them a certain abbreviation and remember that abbreviation. This technique is really very helpful. Just try it.

 

10. Stay away from Time wasting and unproductive habits. At least during exam times.

 

11. Prepare a list of questions which you consider tuff or a bit time consuming. Prepare a handout yourself with solution of these questions and give them a reading on regularly basis with a time gap of 2-3 days.

 

12. Prepare a list of frequently asked questions asked in the previous examinations and practice/revise them properly.

 

13. Give a little bit time to every subject per day. Try and increase your study time day by day.

 

14. After a certain time (close to exam) do not add any new topic in your schedule. Just focus on revision-revision and revision.

 

15. Stop collecting different notes per day. Try and figure out the notes which are relevant for you and support your style of study. Only use them for exam purpose.

 

16. Take very good care of your health. Consider your health as a subject. Remember if you fail to perform well in this subject you are going to fail.

 

September 28 is 'International Right to Know Day

International Right to Know Day was established by access to information advocates from around the globe. It was first celebrated on 28 September 2003, and 2010 will see the 8th International Right to Know Day. It is a chance to highlight the right to information and to remember how important this right is for the fulfillment of all human rights.

From securing the right to food, health care and education, to preserving a healthy and sustainable environment, to increasing people's participation in government and achieving gender equality, having access to information is fundamental if we are to fully exercise our rights in a meaningful way and take an active role in shaping the societies in which we live.

The importance of access to information has long been recognised by the international community. At its very start in 1946, the United Nations General Assembly recognised that "freedom of information is a fundamental human right and the touchstone for all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated".

Access to information
Although originally envisaged as an element of the right to freedom of expression, the right to information is increasingly gaining recognition as a "foundational right" necessary for the protection of every other human right.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), for example, outlines member state's obligations to provide women with access to information about family planning in order to fully protect their right to health and to be equal partners in the marriage agreement.

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development recognises that the right to a healthy environment includes the right to access government information about the environment, including hazardous materials and activities.

This International Right to Know Day is an opportunity to remember that each of us has a human right to information, and that effective protection of this right is dependent on our government's willingness to embrace policies of transparency and openness.

UPSC finally goes online for all competitive exams

AS part of its e-governance initiative, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has introduced the system of online submission of applications for the competitive examinations it conducts. An increasingly good number of candidates have already started applying online for the UPSC Examinations notified during 2010. Although this facility is in addition to the option of submitting paper applications already available, the prospective candidates are encouraged to prefer online mode of applying for the UPSC Examinations using the link http://www.upsconline.nic.in.

Anyone choosing to apply online has the following distinct advantages :-

++ One can apply in a hassle free manner at the convenience of sitting at home or at cyber cafe or any other place any time even during night hours.

++ prompt confirmation of submitted application is received. An online application requires one to pay only 50% of the fee required otherwise while applying offline. The cost of buying paper application from the Post Office as well as postal charges is also saved.

++ one doesn't run the risk of postal delays.

++ lower risk of rejection of one's application on account of wrong/incomplete data entry since online application system has built-in self- scrutinising features not allowing an applicant to leave any column blank.

++ one can view and take a print out of one's application for future reference.

++ When applying online in response to any Examination Notice of the Commission, all one needs is, the applicant's scanned photo and scanned signature in .png format of size not exceeding 40 KB.

++ For fee payment, one may choose any one of the three options:- pay through any VISA/MASTERCARD, Debit or Credit Card issued by any Bank/Institution; pay through the Internet Banking facility of State Bank of India or one can pay cash at any Branch of State Bank of India, through a challan generated through the above website.

Free Online Certificate Course on Right To Information (OCC_RTI)

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India (GoI) has launched an 'Online Certificate Course on RTI' for various stakeholders on, both, the demand and supply sides of the RTI implementation regime.

This Online Certificate Course on RTI is launched in association with the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad.

This Online Certificate Course is aimed at:

• Public Information Officers (PIOs)
• Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs)
• Appellate Authorities
• Officials assisting the above designated officers or other public officials
• Citizens
• Representative of Civil Society Organisations (including Media Organisations)
• Any other person(s) who could be a direct / indirect stakeholder
  

OCC_RTI is a 15-day online course.

These 15 days are further divided into two slots. The first 12 days are allocated to study the chapters and thereby the modules including taking a quiz for each chapter. The last 3 days are to be used for taking the online examination.

The online course is flexible. Within these slots of 12 days and 3 days, a candidate can complete the course work (i.e,. study of modules) at her / his convenience - one or more than one chapter / module at a time. It is estimated that each chapter and its respective quiz can be completed in one hour.

What is the purpose of taking the OCC_RTI?

Perusing this course is going to be important from the point of view of understanding several implementation-related aspects of the 'RTI Act, 2005'.

Civil Services(Main) Examination Time Table 2010

Date/Day	Forenoon Session 9.00 A.M. to 12.00 P.M.	Afternoon Session 2.00 P.M. to 5.00 P.M.
29.10.2010(Friday)	General Studies Paper-I	General Studies Paper-II
30.10.2010(Saturday)	Essay	English
31.10.2010(Sunday)	Indian Language {Assamese/Bengali/Bodo/Dogri/ Gujarati/Hindi/Kannada/Kashmiri/ Konkani/Maithili/Malayalam/ Manipuri/Marathi/Nepali/Oriya/ Punjabi/Sanskrit/Santali/Sindhi (Devanagari/Arabic Script)/Tamil/ Telugu/Urdu}	---
02.11.2010(Tuesday)	Political Science & International Relations Paper-I/ Public Administration Paper-I	Political Science & International Relations Paper-II/ Public Administration Paper-II
04.11.2010(Thursday)	History Paper-I	History Paper-II
08.11.2010(Monday)	Literature of Arabic/Assamese/Bengali/Bodo/ Chinese/Dogri/English/French/ German/Gujarati/Hindi/Kannada/ Kashmiri/Konkani/Maithili/ Malayalam/Manipuri/Marathi/Nepali/ Oriya/Pali/Persian/Punjabi/Russian/ Sanskrit/Santali/Sindhi (Devanagari/ Arabic Script) /Tamil/Telugu/Urdu Language Paper-I	Literature of Arabic/Assamese/Bengali/Bodo/ Chinese/Dogri/English/French/ German/Gujarati/Hindi/Kannada/ Kashmiri/Konkani/Maithili/ Malayalam/Manipuri/Marathi/Nepali/ Oriya/Pali/Persian/Punjabi/Russian/ Sanskrit/Santali/Sindhi (Devanagari/ Arabic Script)/Tamil/Telugu/Urdu Language Paper-II
09.11.2010(Tuesday)	Philosophy Paper-I	Philosophy Paper-II
10.11.2010(Wednesday)	Sociology Paper-I/ Anthropology Paper-I	Sociology Paper-II/ Anthropology Paper-II
11.11.2010(Thursday)	Psychology Paper-I	Psychology Paper-II
12.11.2010(Friday)	Zoology Paper-I	Zoology Paper-II
13.11.2010(Saturday)	Law Paper-I	Law Paper-II
15.11.2010(Monday)	Economics Paper-I	Economics Paper-II
16.11.2010(Tuesday)	Commerce & Accountancy Paper-I/ Management Paper-I	Commerce & Accountancy Paper-II/ Management Paper-II
18.11.2010(Thursday)	Civil Engg. Paper-I/Electrical Engg. Paper-I/ Mechanical Engg. Paper-I/ Medical Science Paper-I	Civil Engg. Paper-II/Electrical Engg. Paper-II/ Mechanical Engg. Paper-II/ Medical Science Paper-II
19.11.2010(Friday)	Botany Paper-I/	Botany Paper-II/
20.11.2010(Saturday)	Mathematics Paper-I/ Statistics Paper-I	Mathematics Paper-II/ Statistics Paper-II
22.11.2010(Monday)	Agriculture Paper-I/ Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Paper-I	Agriculture Paper-II/ Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Paper-II
23.11.2010(Tuesday)	Physics Paper-I	Physics Paper-II
25.11.2010(Thursday)	Chemistry Paper-I	Chemistry Paper-II
26.11.2010(Friday)	Geology Paper-I	Geology Paper-II

International Day of Peace

The International Day of Peace, also known as the World Peace Day, occurs annually on September 21. It is dedicated to peace, or specifically the absence of war, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone. It is observed by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples. The first year this holiday was celebrated was 1981.

To inaugurate the day, the "Peace Bell" is rung at UN Headquarters. The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents. It was given as a gift by the Diet of Japan, and is referred to as "a reminder of the human cost of war." The inscription on its side reads: "Long live absolute world peace."

Year 2010

Over 55 Global Comedy Clubs will participate in the 2010 Peace Day Comedy "Stand-Up For International Peace" in recognition of the United Nation's 21st Peace Day. Celebrate Peace Day and Inspire a new generation of Peace Thinkers, Teachers and Leaders. This event is designed to bring much needed awareness and media attention to Peace Day. 

Gandhian policing

Please find a link to vaartha news paper website on Gandhian policing...

http://vaartha.com/pdf_files/90759.pdf
http://epaper.vaartha.com/VT/VT/2010/09/19/index.shtml

LIST OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA HOLIDAYS DURING THE YEAR 2011

LIST OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA HOLIDAYS DURING THE YEAR 2011 FOR DELHI / NEW DELHI OFFICES

S.No.	Holiday	Date	Saka Date	Day
				1932 SAKA ERA
1	Republic Day	January 26	Magha 06	Wednesday
2	Milad-Un-Nabi or Id-E-Milad (Birthday of Prophet Mohammad)	Febuary 16	Magha 27	Wednesday
3	Maha Shivaratri	March 02	Phalguna 11	Wednesday

				1933 SAKA ERA
4	Ram Navami	April 12	Chaitra 22	Tuesday
5	Mahavir Jayanti	April 16	Chaitra 26	Saturday
6	Good Friday	April 22	Vaisakha 02	Friday
7	Buddha Prunima	May 17	Vaisakha 27	Tuesday
8	Independence Day	August 15	Sravana 31	Monday
9	Janamashtami (Vaisnava)	August 22	Sravana 31	Monday
10	Idu'l Fitr	August 31	Bhadra 09	Wednesday
11	Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday	October 02	Asvina 10	Sunday
12	Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami)	October 06	Asvina 14	Thursday
13	Diwali (Deepavali)	October 26	Kartika 04	Wednesday
14	Idu'l Zuha (Bakrid)	November 07	Kartika 16	Monday
15	Guru Nanak's Birthday	November 10	Kartika 19	Thursday
16	Muharram	December 06	Agrahayana 15	Tuesday
17	Christmas Day	December 25	Pausa 04	Sunday

LIST OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA RESTRICTED HOLIDAYS DURING THE YEAR 2011 FOR DELHI/NEW DELHI OFFICES.

S.No.	Holiday	Date	Saka Date	Day
				SAKA ERA 1932
1	New Year's Day	January 01	Pausa 11	Saturday
2	Guru Gobind Singh's Birthday	Januray 05	Pausa 15	Wednesday
3	Makar Sankranti	Januray 14	Pausa 24	Friday
4	Pongal	January 15	Pausa 25	Saturday
5	Basanta Panchami / Sri Panchami	February 08	Magha 19	Tuesday
6	Guru Ravidas' Birthday	February 18	Magha 29	Friday
7	Shivaji Jayanthi	February 19	Magha 30	Saturday
8	Swami Dayananda Saraswati Jayanti	February 27	Phalguna 08	Sunday
9	Holika Dahan (Dol yatra)	March 19	Phalguna 28	Saturday
10	Holi	March 20	Phalguna 29	Sunday
				SAKA ERA 1933
11	Chaitra Sukladi / Gudi Padava / Ugadi / Cheti Chand	April 04	Chaitra 14	Monday
12	Vaisakhi	April 14	Chaitra 24	Thursday
13	Vishu	April 14	Chaitra 24	Thursday
14	Mesadi	April 14	Chaitra 24	Thursday
15	Vaisakhadi (Bengal)/Bahag Bihu (Assam)	April 15	Chaitra 25	Friday
16	Easter Sunday	April 24	Vaisakha 04	Sunday
17	Guru Rabindranath's Birthday	May 09	Vaisakha 19	Monday
18	Hazarat Ali's Birthday	June 16	Jyaishtha 26	Thursday
19	Rath Yatra	July 03	Asadha 12	Sunday
20	Raksha Bandhan	August 13	Sravana 22	Friday
21	Parsi New Year's day	August 19	Sravana 28	Friday
22	Jamat-UI-Vida	August 26	Bhadra 04	Friday
23	Ganesh Chaturthi / Vinayaka Chaturthi	September 01	Bhadra 10	Thursday
24	Onam	September 09	Bhadra 18	Friday
25	(Maha Saptami Additional)	October 03	Asvina 11	Monday
26	Dussehra (Maha Astami) (Additional)	October 04	Asvina 12	Tuesday
27	Dussehra (Maha Navami)	October 05	Asvina 13	Wednesday
28	Maharishi Valmiki's Birthday	October 11	Asvina 19	Tuesday
29	Deepavali (South India)	October 26	Kartika 04	Wednesday
30	Narak Chaturdasi	October 26	Kartika 04	Wednesday
31	Govardhan Puja	October 27	Kartika 05	Thursday
32	Bhai Duj	October 28	Kartika 06	Friday
33	Pratihar Sashthi or Surya Sashthi (Chhat Puja)	November 01	Kartika 10	Tuesday
34	Guru Teg Bahadur's Martyrdom Day	November 24	Agrahayana 03	Thursday
35	Christmas Eve	December 24	Pausa 03	Saturday

In addition to the 14 Compulsory holidays mentioned above, three holidays shall be decided from the list indicated below by the Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee in the State Capitals, if necessary, in consultation with Coordination Committees at other places in the State. The final list applicable uniformly to all Central Government offices within the concerned State shall be notified after seeking prior approval of this Ministry and no change can be carried out thereafter. It is also clarified that no change is permissible in regard to festivals and dates as indicated.
http://90paisa.blogspot.com/2010/06/holidays-to-be-observed-in-central.html

what IAS officers can do

Please find a interesting post on IAS ,sent by KANTHETI VINAY KUMAR IRS customs from NACEN.

Three stories that tell the power of Indian Administrative Service to bring about social, moral and cultural changes, at the micro and macro levels

http://navneet-anand.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-what-ias-officers-can-do.html

Quick look on civil service exam

Qualification: Any degree certificate

Open category

Age limit - 30

Number of attempts - 4

Backward Classes

Age limit - 33

Number of attempts - 7

SC/ST

Age limit - 35

Number of attempts - 14

(The minimum age for all categories is 21 years)

Prelims 

Subjects/Papers : Two

The government has approved the proposal for the introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in place of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.In CSAT, one of the optional subjects which a candidate could have chosen out of 23 optionals has been replaced with a common paper on aptitude test.The government will shortly notify the new scheme of examination giving details of the syllabus.

General Studies (history, geography, general science, polity, economics, current affairs, simple general knowledge and mental ability)

(Question papers are based on objective type multiple choice mode with no negative marking)

Mains

General Studies: Two papers of 300 marks each

Optional - 1: Two papers of 300 marks each

Optional - 2: Two papers of 300 marks each

General essay: One paper of 200 marks

(Essays should be to the point and concise with facts, figures and logical explanation)

Two papers of qualifying nature: One English and the other any vernacular language.

(The marks of the qualifying papers are not considered in the final score)

Interview selection

Total marks allotted for interview: 300

Points that are considered and observed at the interview level:

Leadership and social cohesion, assimilation quality, variety and depth of interest, logical expression, emotional balance, mental alertness, interest in current affairs and intellectual and moral integrity.

Basically the physical, mental and intellectual personalities of the candidate are tested at the interview level.

Coaching institutes

Hyderabad

1. Brain Tree

2. Hyderabad Study Circle

3. IAS Study Circle

4. IAS Academy

5. R.C. Reddy IAS study circle

Visakhapatnam

1. Divakar IAS study Circle (DISC)

2. Delhi Institute of Coaching (DIC)