Letter from Civil Service aspirants to Media on possible discrimination in Prelims

Dear All,

A copy of the letter received from Civil Service aspirants, addressed to Media on possible discrimination in Prelims is herewith enclosed for academic debate and comments..For any clarification/information/help please contact the persons mentioned below...Let us wish for a more transparent system of recruitment...

To,

Media

Sir / Madam,

We, the civil service aspirants, are the victims of THE UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION with its opaque and biased system of recruitment.

 We would like to bring two major issues to your notice.

1. Undue advantage to aspirants with Hindi as mother tongue at the cost of Non-Hindi aspirants especially with rural back drop which invalidates fair competition, equity, representativeness, merit.

2. Mistakes in the key for Civil services preliminary examination, 2011 provided by UPSC via RTI. 

Issue 1: UPSC provides civil services Preliminary paper in two languages, English and Hindi. With its changed preliminary pattern from 2011, Hindi speaking students are getting undue advantage. 

Earlier pattern up to 2010 used to have Paper I (Optional) and Paper II (General Studies). Even in that pattern Hindi speaking students used to have some advantage. But one requires having prior knowledge in selected optional subjects (public administration, geography, psychology, etc) and GS (History, Geography, Economics, General Science, etc) to answer questions. 

This year (2012 prelims like last year) question paper has given much more advantage to Hindi speaking students violating Right to Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment(Article16) which can be observed in paper II with question numbers 1-15, 28-38, 51-56 (please refer to enclosed 2012 paper II question paper) i.e. in total 32 questions with weightage of 80 marks (32*2.5 mark) need not require any prior knowledge to answer as they were just reading comprehension questions and only Hindi translation is given to these questions which made things easier to Hindi belt aspirants than Non-Hindi aspirants as comprehending things is easy in one's mother tongue.

There are two kinds of comprehensive questions in paper II:

1. Comprehension (given in English and Hindi)

2. English language comprehensive skills (given only in English)

If one observes the trend of last two years papers the difficulty level of comprehension questions (serial numbers 1-15, 28-38, 51-56) is high compared to English language comprehensive skills questions (serial numbers 66-73). By this Non-Hindi aspirants are forced to answer difficult comprehension questions in English, where as Hindi aspirants have the option of answering them in Hindi. Since, English language comprehensive skills questions (given only in English) are easier, Hindi students didn't feel much difficulty to answer. By this UPSC is expecting too much English language skills from Non-Hindi aspirants and too little from Hindi medium students defeating the principles of Equity, Justice, Fair Play, MERIT and the purpose for which English comprehension was introduced.

In this kind of examination with huge competition, each and every mark makes huge difference. Clear cut advantage of 80 odd marks for Hindi belt aspirants left only few non-Hindi students to see success. This year many aspirants (many of them were successful in their earlier attempts) from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odissa, West Bengal, North East states, etc are not able to clear preliminary exam. As per our sample size many aspirants based in Hyderabad who performed well in exam failed to clear and few of them have exhausted their attempts. 

Moreover rural back ground aspirants (with non-Hindi mother tongue) failed miserably to score well. Also, there are many inference based reasoning questions and it is the same case with these questions too. 

Issue 2:  UPSC is releasing the Prelims key through RTI only after the completion of final selections provides no benefit to anybody either for the Candidates or for the UPSC as UPSC cannot rectify its mistakes retrospectively. 

For example for question number 11 in Paper-1 of Preliminary exam-2011, the answer was given by UPSC was D (please refer to enclosed 2011 paper I question paper and answer key by UPSC as  response to RTI application) where as the correct answer was option C (Source to prove answer given by UPSC was wrong is http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend74.htm Article 243ZD). This question alone might have affected result of examination as it might have denied the opportunity to write mains for deserved as he/she might have awarded -0.66 marks instead of +2 marks, i.e. it might have reflected difference of 2.66 marks

But the UPSC has been declining the RTI request for the Answer KEY immediately after the preliminary exam saying "the exam process is not yet complete and section 8(1)(j) is invoked".

Unlike the essay type Mains exam which may have some subjective bias, Prelims is purely objective type exam with only one answer choice, so KEY must be OBJECTIVE without any confusion. Hence Answer choices must be unambiguous established facts. Hence there should not be any harm to the exam process if the key was released immediately after the prelims exam.

Through this mail we request you to consider these issues on war footing scale as the Mains exam is fast approaching from October 5, 2012.

1. Raise issue in parliament as grave injustice of this kind may cause huge damage to non-Hindi students, so UPSC should be forced to suspend 2012 preliminary and should re conduct exam after correcting flaws.

2. Highlight the injustice, discriminatory nature of UPSC for violating basic Fundamental Rights (Article 16 of Indian constitution – Equality of opportunity) which in turn invalidates exam itself.

3. Please share the information with your peer media houses as all non-Hindi students affected.

Please give us an active voice at different forums like Parliament, Media, other eminent groups and contacts of you.

Along with this mail we are enclosing following documents.

1. UPSC Civil Services Preliminary question paper 2 of year 2012 (Civil services prelims 2012 question paper - Paper II - Set A.pdf)

2. UPSC Civil Services Preliminary question paper 1 of 2011 (Civil services prelims 2011 question paper - Paper I - Set A.pdf)

3. Answer key for 2011 paper1 provided by UPSC in response to RTI application (Answer key to 2011 paper I set A.jpeg)

4. RTI reply by UPSC with the file name: UPSC_RTI_rejection_2012_point3_mrunal.gif

We like to declare that all the information provided in this mail is true as per our knowledge.

Yours faithfully

Ram Sudhir K, 08142111315 <ramsudhir.kunchey@gmail.com>

Ramana Akula, 09908815644 < akula.ramana@gmail.com>

                                 Ravindra Reddy G, 0¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-9491550232<ravindra.civils@gmail.com>

A Madhusudhan Reddy  <amreddy25@gmail.com> 

Mallikarjuna Rao Para , 09160161016  <rao.para@gmail.com>

Following is the list of few candidates who are also with us in the true letter and spirit.

NAME <e-mail ID> <Place> (Civil services preliminary 2012 hall ticket number) 

Ramana Akula <akula.ramana@gmail.com> Markapur, Prakasam Dist (220709),

Ravindra Reddy <ravindra.civils@gmail.com> Tadepalli, Guntur Dist(001941), 

Mallikarjuna Para <rao.para@gmail.com>  Ananthavaram, Guntur Dist (004503),

ramsudhir kunchey <ramsudhir.kunchey@gmail.com>, Hyderabad

Yogesh Thandava <Yogesh_Thandava@yahoo.co.in> Giddaluru, Prakasam Dist (002103),

Murali Nalam <Murali.nalam@gmail.com>  (002770),

Ramesh Chava <ch.ramesh896@gmail.com>  (006561), 

Rakesh C <rakeysh123@gmail.com>  Hyderabad (161409),

Narendra <narencse85@gmail.com>  Kanigiri, Prakasam Dist (061012),

Rakesh Reddy <rakeshreddyb4u@gmail.com>, Tirupati

Uday Kumar <udayrai@gmail.com>  Bhadrachalam, Khammam Dist(003025),

Bhaskar Reddy, Warangal,

Dr Ravinder Reddy, <drkarnambbs@yahoo.com>  kanigiri, prakasam Dist, (100287)

Dr Sunil, Warangal,

polireddy palagiri <polireddy.p@gmail.com>,  YSR Kadapa

G Nishita, 058437, Khammam Dist

P.Jhansi, 147874

Sridhar Gayam <sridhar.gayam@gmail.com>, kanigiri, prakasam Dist 

Venu Kesam <venu.kesam@gmail.com>, Vijayawada

Venkata Niyanth < venkatniyanth@gmail.com>, Rajamundry, 

Narasimha Prasad , Nellore, 

Ravi Patro, Srikakulam, 

Nishanth <NISHANTHMECH@gmail.com>, 

Chiranjeevi G Vidyasagar <sagar_withu@yahoo.com>, 

Nikhil <nikhilchvs1@gmail.com>, 

ChandraKanth <chandrakanth1038@gmail.com>, 

Siva Prasad <Siva.965@gmail.com> 

Durfar Conflict & South Sudan Independence

Mrunal's New article on UPSC: "[Diplomacy] Durfar Conflict & South Sudan Independence: Timeline, Players, Similarities and differences" plus 3 more

• [Diplomacy] Durfar Conflict & South Sudan Independence: Timeline, Players, Similarities and differences
• [Diplomacy] Senkaku/Diaoyu islands Conflict between Japan and China
• [Diplomacy] Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and India
• [Science] Cloud Computing: Meaning, Advantages, Disadvantages

[Diplomacy] Durfar Conflict & South Sudan Independence: Timeline, Players, Similarities and differences Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:24 AM PDT Donot confuse or mixup between Durfar and South Sudan. These are two separate conflicts with separate climaxes. What is Sudan? Background: Durfur and South Sudan Reasons for Conflict Players in Durfur conflict Players in South Sudan Independence Struggle Arrest Warrent against Omar Al Bashir Climax North Vs South Sudan India's response What Continue reading [Diplomacy] Durfar Conflict & South Sudan Independence: Timeline, Players, Similarities and differences

[Diplomacy] Senkaku/Diaoyu islands Conflict between Japan and China Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:55 AM PDT What is Senkaku/Diaoyu islands: Eight uninhabited islands and rocks in question lie in the East China Sea. They have a total area of about 7 sq km and lie northeast of Taiwan These group of islands are known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China. Both Continue reading [Diplomacy] Senkaku/Diaoyu islands Conflict between Japan and China

[Diplomacy] Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and India Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:53 AM PDT Member States Should India become a full time member of SCO? Arguments against joining SCO Arguments in favor of joining SCO Introduction: What is SCO? Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Intergovernmental organization, consisting of certain of Central  Asian countries. Founded in 2001 in Shanghai. What does SCO do? Continue reading [Diplomacy] Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and India

[Science] Cloud Computing: Meaning, Advantages, Disadvantages Posted: 21 Aug 2012 06:50 AM PDT This is a Guest article by Manikandan Soundararajan What is Cloud Computing? Definition of Cloud Computing Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing What is Cloud Computing? Situation 1 I am looking for a house. My first constraint, being a middle class man, obviously is money. The House owner here is ready to Continue reading [Science] Cloud Computing: Meaning, Advantages, Disadvantages

Blind Indore girl cleared UPSC, gets railways job at PM’s behest

A visually challenged woman who cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) with distinction in 2008 but was denied posting got justice after a four-year battle and the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Purnima Jain, with about 75% visual disability, has been offered an Indian Railway Personnel Services (IRPS) posting under Group B of Class I.

Although Purnima is willing to take up the new job, she isn't satisfied with the posting as she says that her scores in the exams were level with those selected for IAS. "It's a sort of double marginalisation: as a woman and then being physically challenged," Purnima told ToI.

She cleared the UPSC 2008 exams with 1,123 marks and hoped to get into the IAS or IFS. But that was not to be as she was visually challenged. The person selected in the '08 batch had got only 991 marks," said Purnima, adding, "I got 210 marks out of 300 in the interview, which was equal to that year's topper."

When her order wasn't issued, she moved the MP high court in which UPSC and DoPT raised "questions of maintainability", stating that the court had no jurisdiction on such cases and asked her to approach Central Administrative Tribune (CAT), which he did.

"I approached CAT and finally the decision was in my favour," said Purnima. But despite that, the government was not keen on implementing it. So, she approached Union minister V Narayanswami who assured her of action in two or three weeks.

"Following his intervention, UPSC recommended my name. Even then, the DoPT did not give me the offer letter. I then approached the Prime Minister with the help of CPM MP Brinda Karat. He assured me justice," said Purnima. Soon, she got a letter from DoPT offering her a job in Indian Railways Personnel Service (IRPS) which she is going to take up next week. "I deserve more than what I am getting. But I am happy that I finally secured the position," Purnima told ToI.

Daughter of Dr Prakash Jain, Purnima completed her BA, LLB jointly in which she scored nearly 80%. She then completed her masters in public administration in 2008 and qualified NET/JRF in 2009.

source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-12/indore/31152157_1_upsc-dopt-union-public-service-commission

PM-thoughts-on-baseless-allegations

WHEN UPA-II came to power in May 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked his officers to think creatively and become the "believers in equity, innovation and public accountability at work". But over the last one and half years, the tone and content of PM's speeches changed, as those are now more of a reassurance to civil servants and political functionaries that the government won't allow any witch-hunt to prevail upon. On Independence Day, the PM…
reassured public functionaries that they would be protected against "baseless allegations and unnecessary litigation". Singh who himself was a bureaucrat in commerce and finance ministry for two decades before assuming charge as FM in 1991, is now facing the silent challenge from the bureaucracy which is refusing to take big decisions in fear of future allegations. This is what is PM's assurance at Red Fort: "We will continue our efforts to bring more transparency and accountability in the work of public servants and to reduce corruption. But we will also take care that these measures do not result in a situation in which the morale of public functionaries taking decisions in public interest gets affected because of baseless allegations and unnecessary litigation," PM said while delivering the Independence Day speech.

It's however not the first time PM has highlighted the concerns of honest civil servants and other public functionaries who are often bracketed along with the corrupt machinery. The bureaucracy has been at the receiving end from the time the debate on anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal began. Many honest officers have intentionally lied low and refused to take major decisions as they thought that might haunt them at a later stage. While taking part in the Lokpal debate in Lok Sabha in December, 2011, PM had an interesting observation. He said: "I don't think all public functionaries need to be painted with the same brush…While I agree that public functionaries must be above board and that delinquents must be dealt with expeditiously and decisively, I must express my deep appreciation for many a public servant who have shown exemplary integrity in discharging their functions in an environment of distrust."

PM's yet another comment during that Parliament debate was significant. "Very often our public servants have to take decisions under conditions of uncertainty. The future being inherently uncertain, it is possible that an action which ex ante appears to be rational may ex post turn out to be faulty. Our systems of reward and punishment must not lose sight of this fact."

In fact, if you study the speeches that PM has delivered during the last one and half years, he has been repeating the same point on bureaucracy mainly to allay fear among officials and ministers. And that is a major departure from the time he came to power second time in May 2009. When UPA-II government was formed, the question of any policy paralysis did not arise. What did Singh tell his bureaucrats then? In the first meeting with PMO officials in June 2009, Singh appealed his officers to "think creatively", and stressed the need to be "believers in equity, innovation and public accountability at work".

 

http://www.babusofindia.com/2012/08/pms-thoughts-on-baseless-allegations.html

Constitutional amendment for reservation in promotion

THE government may bring in a new bill in Parliament, preferably during this current session, which will validate quota in promotion of government jobs in the backdrop of Supreme Court striking down such reservation in a case in Uttar Pradesh recently. In this highly political proposition, all parties except Samajwadi Party and National Conference, have given their nod. But this political move is creating a fear psychosis in government offices as it may divide the work-force on a caste line, and it is argued that deserving general caste officers may lag behind. BoI here presents 10 facts including earlier Supreme Court judgements as curated from observations made in Tuesday's all-party meet on the subject:

• Supreme Court in the case of UP Power Corporation Ltd Vs Rajesh Kumar & Others struck down provision of reservation in promotion to SCs and STs in UP
• Supreme Court in its judgment on Indra Sawhney case dated November 16, 1992 held that reservation in promotion is ultra vires but allowed its continuation for five years from the date of judgment as a "special case".
• The 77th amendment to the Constitution (1995) inserted clause (4A) to Article 16 to continue reservation for SCs and STs in promotion.
• Clause (4A) of the Constitution was modified through 85th amendment to give benefit of consequential seniority to SC/ST candidates promoted by reservation.
• Government often launches Special Recruitment Drives to fill up backlog vacancies reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs. In 2004, more than 60,000 backlog reserved vacancies were filled up. The Special Recruitment Drive, 2008 resulted in filling up of 43,781 vacancies.
• By 82nd amendment to the Constitution, a proviso was incorporated in Article 335 of the Constitution which enabled the state to give relaxations or concessions to the SC and ST candidates in the matter of promotion.

• During the recent past the Supreme Court has struck down reservation in promotion in some states.
• Samajwadi Party and National Conference have opposed the government's move to bring in Constitutional amendment for reservation in promotion of government servants.
• The government may bring in a bill in current session of Parliament itself.
• It remains to be seen how Supreme Court reacts to such a political overture.

 

http://www.babusofindia.com/2012/08/10-facts-including-court-verdicts-on.html

No country for the young

Why don't India's political parties have a story for the young and the aspiring?

When Mahatma Gandhi launched the non-cooperation movement in 1920, Jinnah mockingly told him that it would only appeal to the young, ignorant and the illiterate. Jinnah was right: satyagraha was the turning point for the freedom movement because it created a message that spread to deeper levels of the Indian society. The British empire survived for 200 years only because it was a joint venture with disparate Indians groups; Gandhi destroyed this joint venture by unifying many of these groups with a horizontal narrative that trumped their vertical divisions. His genius was in recognising that politics is a battle for hearts and minds. Gandhi did not seek consensus but moulded it. As India approaches parliamentary elections in 2014, there seems to be a curious acceptance that they will result in a hung parliament. There is also a curious lack of narrative from any political party for the young and the aspiring. Could these two tragedies be related?

The absence of a compelling narrative or vision in contemporary politics has many alibis. The secular card does not work because India is much more secular than it was — the Khans in contemporary Bollywood, Aamir, Salman, Saif and Shah Rukh, are hardly more talented than Madhubala, Nargis, Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari, but they don't have to change their names to mask their religion.

And we haven't had Hindu-Muslim riots since 2002. The garibi hatao card does not work because voters are jaded by the lack of execution of promises since that slogan was coined 40 years ago. The free electricity card does not work because it leads to no power, which infuriates the people further. The reservation card does not work because we have reached the limits of confiscating capacity in hiring, education and promotions. The big state that is financed with deficits is discredited because the economic mayhem of the past few years shows that there is no magical "multiplier effect", and deficit financing leads to inflation with no boost in output. The freebies card is less effective because it has to be given to everybody, since fixing the plumbing to target its distribution is so difficult to achieve. The majboori card is less potent because of prosperity; it is much harder to get people to migrate to big cities than it should be. The foreign enemy card does not work because Pakistan is imploding and we are hardly surrounded, like Israel is. The mystique of the incumbent does not work because the 24-hour news cycle encourages breathless breaking news over reflection. The "young blood" card does not work because the only pathways in politics are geriatric. The corruption card does not work because, um, if everybody lives in glass houses, everybody needs to answer the bell.

Political parties are confused because the old is dying and the new has not been born. In other words, is the hope, which Nandan Nilekani voiced in his book Imagining India, of "horizontal aspirations overwhelming our vertical divisions" finally starting to play itself out? The traditional lightning rods of religion, caste and poverty do not inspire the same level of indignation, outrage or action that they did because of India's youth. Younger people have more in front of them than behind them. They are not focused on preservation but creation because their dreams are more powerful than their memory. But Indian policymaking is currently hostage to old people positioning their self-interest as national interest: land mafia, education entrepreneurs, road contractors, small retailers, trade unions, state electricity employees and secretaries angling for post-retirement appointments, politicians whose only competence is manipulation, and crony capitalists.

Confronting these blood clots requires courage and imagination. This is politically impossible in an ageing country like Japan where deflation and a strong yen — it recently reached the highest level since World War II — is murdering Japan's exports and hurting young people. But the government is not responding because a high yen benefits Japan's elderly residents and retirees by accelerating the flow of less expensive imported products into the country, which lets retirees stretch their savings. Professor Yutaka Harada at Tokyo's Waseda University recently told The New York Times, "Japan's tolerance of the strong yen and deflation is rooted in a clash of generations and for now, the seniors are winning". Seniors winning over the young is understandable in Japan, but not in India, where 65 per cent of the population is less than 35 years old.

India's young care most about jobs. And a narrative that places job creation at the heart of policy synthesises the most important issues: roads, power, labour laws, land reform, education, skills and deregulation. Executing on this narrative will also leave beneficiaries of the current status quo less entrenched.

Many politicians say they believe in reform but don't know how to get re-elected once they do it. Job creation offers them a simple narrative for the young at the intersection of good politics and good economics.

A recent survey suggests that both the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA will get an anaemic 120-130 seats in 2014. Whatever the numbers, it is highly probable that India is in for a rerun of the painful movie we saw in the late 1990s, when it was raining prime ministers. But 18 months is a long time in politics. In the US, Mitt Romney represented a non-ideological pragmatism that appealed to nobody till his selection of the running mate made the November election a sharper choice between different narratives. Of course, India needs a generational change; the wisdom in physicist Max Planck's quip that science progresses "one funeral at a time" applies to Indian politics.

But Gandhiji's takeover of the Congress after his return from South Africa demonstrated what is possible with a strong narrative even without generational change. The only thing worse than being wrong in life is being confused. Political parties that choose the young and jobs will neither be wrong nor confused. Any takers?

 

Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-country-for-the-young/990779/0

 

Letter highlighting UPSC’s attitude and conduct with respect to transparency and accountability

A LETTER TO CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA

Please find a Letter highlighting UPSC's attitude and conduct with respect to transparency and accountability(Read RTI Act) & legal issues involved there with ,including value of  SC case-laws. You may find the full text from below link and offer your comments on it.

http://tsanewindia.blogspot.in/2012/08/a-letter-to-chief-justice-of-india-dear.html?spref=tw

9 types of Questions in Civil Service Mains Exam

Question is instructing you to	What should you do?
Discuss	Give both the positive and negative points(prelution and conclusion are must)
Describe	focuss should be only on that particular subject matter(for ex: e-governance only)(prelution is must but conclusion is your optional)
Explain	the answer should be based on answering in detail Why, How, for what, of that subject of the question.ie., we have to give all the important points.(prelution and conclusion are must)
Distinguish	answer should be based on How the suject of question differs from otherthings.(only prelution is must)
Differentiate	there should be detailed comparision and distinguishing(as said above) the subject of question with others.(only prelution is must)
Examine	the answer should consist of the how good, what disadvantages, what impact of the subject of question.
Enumerate	first list out the all the relevant points, then explain one by one.(prelution and conclusion are must)
Reason	Find out what is the correct reason for the subject and explain one by one without side heading but highlighting the point with dots or numbers.(only prelution)
Analyse	try to give your view with future impact and goods and bads.(both prelution and conclusion are must)

Break the Question in 3 parts

First step is break the question into its configuration parts.
For example, consider this question asked in General Studies (Mains) exam of 2004
"Discuss the e-governance in Indian context"
Let's start the process of breaking this question.

1. Focus on  topic on e-governance (subject of question)
2. How to do in the cotext of india(base of question)
3. What to do  dicussing the positive and negative points of view(tool of question)

7 steps answer writing

1. Find out the conclusive theme, when you read the question at first.
2. Write shortly what is meant by e-governance(should be ideal/neutral)
3. Directly go to the discussion neutrally.
4. Try to begin with the positive points
5. Give a negative point only after a positive point. This shows you to the evaluator that you are on the correct way of the answering the question and understood the question perfectly.
6. Carefully keep the word limit
7. At the end, give a finishing touch with the positive points. Why because, the evaluator provide marks only at the end of the answer, if you do so, it will make a good impression in the minds of the evaluator. Then we will get more and plus marks.
8. Draw a conclusion in accordance with your answer. Do not give your suggestion but give the existing fact with currant context of India. Worth noting when handling a question(what you are asked to do)

Source : http://mrunal.org/2012/07/tips-mains-question-types.html

Yojana and Kurukshetra: How to use them for UPSC preparation without wasting time?

Question from a reader

I use to read articles of Hindu, economic times daily and cover articles of yojna,kurukshetra within a month.How to prioritize this as they take much time and eats up time of the subjects.

Answer

• You don't have to read Yojana or Kurukshetra line by line.
• They've information on a few schemes, some suggestion for Development, [overrated] success stories of SHG and NGOs.
• The exam oriented information in each month's issue, can be summerized in a note in barely 2 pages or even less, depending on your notes-making skill. [Most of the names,dates,numbers and data-tables given in the magazine, are useless from exam point of view.]
• So, just scan through the pages, note down any useful fodder related to schemes and Development [which you can use in descriptive answers or essay] and then throw away the magazine in the store-room [or delete the pdf file from the harddisk].
• This exercise should take less than two hours and two A4 sized pages, each month for each magazine of Yojana and Kurukshetra.

Regarding How to read newspapers,- read this article
http://mrunal.org/2012/06/current-affairs-ias.html

Walk-in Facility for Passport

The Ministry of External Affairs issued an advisory in June, 2012 to all Regional Passport Offices in the country to introduce walk in facility to ease availability of on line appointment and facilitate easy submission of forms for passport applications under following categories:

• Applicants for Tatkaal services (fresh / re-issue cases);
• Applicants for issue of Police Clearance Certificate (PCC);
• Applicants for deletion of ECR status in passports without any change in personal particulars;
• Applicants for inclusion of name of the spouse in passport;
• Applicants with valid passports, seeking new booklets in case of exhaustion of visa pages;
• Senior Citizens (above 60 years);
• Minor below 15 years whose parents hold valid passports;
• Physically challenged persons; and
• Central / State Government servants, their spouses and dependent minor children who have 'No Objection Certificate' / Identity Certificate.

The Ministry of External Affairs has recently introduced walk in facility to ease online appointments and smoothen submission of applications at the six Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) under RegionalPassport Office, Hyderabad from these above mentioned categories of applicants w.e.f. August 01, 2012.

The Minister of State in the Ministry Of External Affairs Smt. Preneet Kaur provided this information in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Source: Press Information Bureau

Castes under proposal for inclusion in SC/ST Category

State-wise details of proposals presently under process with the Central Government, for inclusion of specific castes/tribes etc. in the list of (i) Scheduled Castes, (ii) Scheduled Tribes

 

(i)  Scheduled Castes

Sl. No.	State	Caste
1.	Bihar	1. *Tanti (Tatwa)
		2. *Kanu
		3. *Prajapati ( Kumhar)
		4. *Badhai
2.	Chhattisgarh	5. Mahra,  Mahara
		6. Chik Ganda, Chik, Cheek
		7. *Audhelia, Adholia, Adhoria, Adhoulia
3.	Haryana	8. Kabirpanthi Julaha
4.	Karnataka	9. Bovi (Non-Besta), Kallu Waddar, Mannu Waddar
5.	Kerala	10. Madiga
		11. Koppalan
		12.Peruvannan
6.	Madhya Pradesh	13.Sakhwar
7.	Odisha	14.Chik, Chik Badaik
		15.Tiar, Tior
		16.Situria
		17.Jayantara Pano, Jena Pano
		18.Poundra, Pod, etc (Bengali refugee)
		19.Khadal, Khodal,
		20.Gaudia Kela
		21.Adhuria Domb, Adhuria Dom
		22.Rajak, Rajaka
		23.Betra
		24.Khatia
		25.Agheri Kela, Sinduria Kela
		26.Goudia Kela
		27.Pana Baishnab, Pano Baishnab
		28.Kalandi, Kalandi Baishnab, Kalindi Baishnab
		29.Kandra Baishnab, Kandara Baishnab
		30.Bauri Baishnab
		31.Dhoba Baishnab
		32.Gokha Baishnab, Gokah Baishnab
		33.Kesuria
		34.Bhina, Tula Bhina
		35.Mehantar, Mehentar
		36.Sitra
8.	Uttarakhand	37.*Namasudra, Pod, Poundra

(ii)    Scheduled Tribes

Sl.No.	State	Tribe
1	2	3
1.	Andhra Pradesh	1.Mandula
		2. Konda Kummari
2.	Assam	3.Karbis and Dimasas of Plain District
		4.Halam
		5.Tamang
		6.Phakes (Phakeals), Khamyang, Turung & Aiton under Man (Tai) Speaking Tribes.
		7.Adivasi (Tea Tribes), Ahom, Matak, Maran & Chutia.
		8.Amri Karbi
		9.Change of Nomenclature of "Miri" to "Mising" & inclusion of "Thengal Kachari"
		10.Sarania Kachari
		11.Bodo Kachari
3.	Bihar	12.Kamkar within bracket with Kharwar
		13.Gour, Gonr
		14.Bakho
		15.Krishi Vaishya, Chasot, as synonyms  of Kisan
4.	Chhattisgarh	16.Abujh Maria & Hill Korwa
		17.Sanwara, Saunra as synonyms of Sawar, Sawara
		18.Pathari as synoym of Pardhan(entry no.  35)
		19.Saura, Sahara , Soura & Saonra as synonyms of Sawar, Sawara (entry 41)
		20.Saora/Sanvra & Banjara communities Saura-Sanwara Saunra-Sanwara
		21.Panika
		22.Mahra
		23.Bhuiya etc    as synonyms of "Bharia Bhumia",
		24. Nekah Halba/Telanga as synonym of Halba Halbi(entry 17) Ganda as a synonym of Gadba(entry 15)
		25.Dhanuhar, Dhanuwar  as a synonym of Dhanwar(entry no. 14)
		26.Rautia
		27.Binjhia
		28.Sabria
		29.Rautia, Mowar, Banjara, Rajwar
5.	Himachal Pradesh	30.Barad, Bangala, Hatti(Giripar), Dudra-Kwaru
		31.Hatti(people of Trans-Giri area)
6.	Jammu & Kashmir	32.Argons community(Ladakh Region)
		33.Chopan
		34.Pahari speaking people
		35.Koli as synonym of Sippi
7.	Jharkhand	36.Khangar, Biar, Kolh (Teli), Khetauri & Kurmi/ Kudumi (Mahato) and Ghatwar
		37.Puran
		38.Tamaria (Tamadia)
		39.Rautia
		40.Mundari
8.	Karnataka	42.Gangamatha   (39 synonymous)
		43.Gonda (Gowda) (Helava/Yenadi/ Pichaguntalu and Gauwali
		44.Halakki Vokkalu
		45.Talwara and Pariwara as synonym of Naikda
9.	Kerala	46.Re-inclusion of Marati (in Hosdrug and Kasargod Taluk of Cannanore District)
		47.Pathiyan
		48.Vetan and Nayadi
10.	Madhya Pradesh	49.Re-inclusion of  Keer, Mina and Pardhi
		50.Dheemar, Kevat, Kahar, Bhoi, Mallah and Nishad as synonym of Majhi and Majhwar in the ST of M.P.
11.	Maharashtra	51.Injhwar as synonym of Binjhwar
		52.Dhobi, Parit, Warthi, Rajak communities as synonym of Dhoba ST of Maharashtra .
12.	Odisha	53.Amanatia
		54.Bhattada
		55.Bhottar
		56.Bodo Bhottada
		57.Banda Paraja
		58.Bonda Paraja
		59.Beldar Gond
		60.Budu Kondh
		61.Budha Kondh
		62.Buri Kondh
		63.Buda Kandha
		64.Buri Kandha
		65.Budha Kandha
		66.Boda Savara
		67.Boda Savar
		68.Bhima
		69.Babhili Saora
		70.Bhukta
		71.Bhogta
		72.Bhokta
		73.Bhagta
		74.Bhagata
		75.Bhaghata
		76.Bhuinya
		77.Bhumija
		78.Boj Gadaba
		79.Bareng Jhodia Paroja
		80.Cheronga Kolha
		81.Chapua Kamar
		82.Dhurava
		83.Dhurua
		84.Desia Kondh
		85.Dongria Kondh
		86.Desua Kandha
		87.Desi Kandha
		88.Dudu Kandha
		89.Danguria Kandha
		90.Dongria Kandha
		91.Desua Kondh
		92.Didaya
		93.Dudha Kharia
		94.Dalki Kharia
		95.Dhangara
		96.Eranga Munda
		97.Eranga Kolha
		98.Gampa Koya
		99.Gumpa Koya
		100.Gontar Saora
		101.Jadu Savar
		102.Jurei Savar
		103.Jathi Saora
		104.Joda Saora
		105.Jodu Saora
		106.Jathi Savar
		107.Jodia Kandh
		108.Kaur
		109.Kumar
		110.Kutia Kondh
		111.Kandh Gauda
		112.Kandh Paroja
		113.Kuttia Kandha
		114.Khondh Paroja
		115.Kapu Saora
		116.Kindal Savar
117.Kampa Seura
118.Kampo Saora
119.Kumbi Saora
120.Kurumba Saora
121.Kanohar Saora
122.Kuduba Sora
123.Kampa Saora
124.Kolha Lohara
125.Khandayat Bhuinya
126.Koara
127.Koitor
128.Kalanga
129.Kadar Kalanga
130.Kandhia
131.Konda Paroja
132.Kol Kamar
133.Luhura
134.Lohara
135.Laban
136.Labana
137.Lahara
138.Loar
139.Luhar
140.Lodha Khadia
141.Meria Gond
142.Malua Kandha
143.Muli Kandha
144.Mano Savar
145.Mutha Savar
146..Mutha Saora
147.Mana Saora
148.Mussara Koya
149.Mallah Saora
150.Malla Savar
151.Mankidia
152.Nageswar
153.Nagabansimunda
154.Ollera Gadaba
155.Oriya Saora
156.Oriya Kandha
157.Penga Paroja
158.Pengu Paroja
159.Porja
160.Parjia
161.Paroja Bhuyan
162.Pauri Bhyan
163.Paudi Bhuyan
164.Paik Bhuyan
165.Paidi Bhuyan
166.Paraja Bhuyan
167.Praja Bhuyan
168.Puran
169.Pahadi Kharia
170.Pengu Kandha
171.Patra Savara
172.Paba
173.Rajkuli Bhuyan
		174.Rautali Bhuyan
		175.Rajkoli Bhuyan
		176.Rajodi Bhuyan
		178.Raja Kandha
		179.Routia
		180.Sudho Soura
		181.Suna Saora
		182.Sudha Savar
		183.Sudha Saora
		184.Sano Bhottada
		185. Sana Gadaba
		186.Satara Kharia
		187.Selia Paroja
		188.Singalal Bhumiha
		189.Saara
		190.Sara
		191.Tankala Savar
		192.Tankla Saora
		193.Tamodia Bhumija
		194.Tamudia Bhumija
		195.Tamandia Bhumij
		196.Tamaria
		197.Tamulia Bhumija
		198.Tamadia Bhumij
		199.Tali Bhumija
		200.Tikiria Kandha
		201.Tikri Kondh
		202.Uram
		203.Durua
		204.Nakasia/Naxia
		205.Kandha Kumbhar
		206.Tanla Gauda
		207.Jhodia
		208.Oram/Uraon
		209.Anati Dora/Enati Dora
		210.Muria
		211.Paika Bhuyan/Paik Bhuyan
		212.Paharia (Kamar)
		213. Oran Mudi (Mudi)
		214.Sualgiri/Swalgiri (Shabar)
		215.Mani Dora/Mana Dora/Mane Dora
		216.Paraja Bhuyan
		217.Konda Reddy/Konda Reddi
		218.Bhil
		219.Puran/Bhanja  Puran/ Tamdia  Puran/ Tamudia Puran/ Tamuria Puran/ Tamaria  Puran
		220.Inclusion of "Kui Kandha" Instead of "Kui"

Source : http://www.gconnect.in/orders-in-brief/reservation/castes-under-proposal-for-inclusion-in-scst-category.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=408382&utm_campaign=0#.UDEhIaniYqg