The scaling system is presently used in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) where a proportional representation of candidates from each subject will be chosen from prelims to the main. The ratio is always maintained. B N Swamy, a KAS aspirant, told TOI that the prelims for gazetted probationers conducted by KPSC has two papers — general studies for 150 marks and optional paper for 300 marks. At KPSC, there are 30 optional subjects.

“This year, Kannada literature paper was easy. Naturally, candidates with these subjects score well compared to other subjects. Simply put, they will be in more number to be selected in the mains. Candidates with other subjects will lose an opportunity to enter mains. This is why we are insisting on scaling system,’’ he said.

Faced with a shortfall of at least 560 IAS officers across India, a proposal for the UPSC to hold “limited” competitive examinations to allow young officers serving in the states to join the IAS is under active consideration of the Prime Minister’s Office.

A similar move to make up the acute shortfall of IPS officers through a “limited competitive examination” for young officers in Central Police Organisations (CPOs), Central Paramilitary Forces (CPFs) and state police forces had been firmed up by the Union ministry for home affairs (MHA) in March this year. The proposal had been struck down by the UPSC, prompting the home ministry to approach the PMO to overrule the UPSC’s decision.

The Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, will be meeting the law minister, Mr Veerappa Moily, and the minister of state in the ministry of personnel, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, on Friday to elicit their views. The Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, will be meeting the law minister, Mr Veerappa Moily, and the minister of state in the ministry of personnel, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, on Friday to settle contentious issues like age criteria, and other modalities involved in holding such exams.

“We will be taking the views of the stakeholders to resolve any complications in view of the concerns expressed by the UPSC. A final view will be taken after we study their suggestions,” an MHA official said.

Currently, entry into the State Civil Services is through a competitive examination conducted by every state public service commission. However, state civil service officers can be promoted to the IAS on the basis of their track records. Government sources said that keeping in view the shortfall of IAS officers, the fresh proposal would allow young officers to sit for the proposed special examination for induction into the IAS.

“The move may lead to discontent among state civil service officers who have served 20 years or more who will not be eligible to sit for the proposed examination,” a government official said.

The proposal for the IAS is similar to the proposal to make up the IPS shortfall where the eligibility criteria for the proposed exam for deputy superintendents of police in the states and assistant commandants in CPOs and CPFs has tentatively been set at 35 years of age. Such examinations are proposed to be held once a year for at least seven years with the aim of getting nearly 70 IPS officers each year.
According to the MHA proposal, officers who clear the examination would be kept on probation for one year. Their prior service would be terminated only when they are confirmed in the IPS, government sources said.

deccan chronicle

Over 10,239 candidates have qualified for being interviewed by the Service Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence, for admission to (i) Indian Military Academy, Dehradun 130th Course commencing in January, 2011 Iii) Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala Course commencing in January, 2011 (iii) Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course for 189th F(P) Course commencing in January, 2011 (iv) Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai 93rd SSC Course (for Men) commencing in April, 2011 and (v) Officers’ Training Academy, 7th SSC (Women Non-Technical) Course commencing in April, 2011.

The candidature of all the candidates is provisional. In accordance with the conditions of the admission to the examination, they are required to submit the original certificates in support of age, educational qualification, NCC (C) etc. claimed by them to Army Headquarters, in case of IMA/SSC as their first choice, to Naval Headquarters (R and R Section), in case of Naval first choice, and to PO3 (A) Air Headquarters in case of Air Force first choice.

The original Certificates are to be submitted within two weeks of completion of the SSB Interview and not later than November 13, 2010 (February 1, 2011 in case of SSC only)

The UPSC has a “Facilitation Counter” in its campus where Candidates can obtain any information / clarification regarding their examinations / recruitments during working hours in person or over telephone Nos. 23385271 / 23381125 / 23098543.

Result is available on PIB website www.pib.nic.in and also on the U.P.S.C. website i.e. www.upsc.gov.in.

The marks-sheet of candidates, who have not qualified shall be available on the Commission’s website within 30 days from declaration/publication of the result.

According to a press release from Mr. Kamaraj, steps had been taken to provide adequate security to the examination centres and the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board advised to provide uninterrupted power supply. The Madurai Division of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation would operate special bus services for the convenience of 6578 candidates who were expected to appear for the examinations in 20 centres.

Mr. Kamaraj said that mobile phones and other communication gadgets would not be allowed inside the examination halls. The Commissioner of Dairy Development Apurva Varma, accompanied by the Collector, inspected the examination centres on Saturday.

Hindu

District Collector V. Seshadri on Wednesday held a meeting with all the concerned officials at the RDO’s office here to review the arrangements for the prestigious examination, like seating arrangements, training to the invigilators, guidelines for payments of allowance to the invigilators, dispatch of question papers and answer sheets, security arrangements at the exam centres and so on.

The special chief secretary, Mr A.K. Goel, was elated when his son, Mr Karthikeya Goel, was selected for the IAS after securing the 40th rank. Similarly, the excise commissioner, Mr Hiralal Samaria, was proud when his son cleared the UPSC examinations. He just missed making the cut for IAS and settled for the Indian Revenue Service.

The current labour commissioner, Mr D. Srinivasulu’s daughter, Ms Harichandana, also cleared the UPSC exam in the general category and got the 106th rank.

A retired IAS officer, Mr D.C. Rosaiah’s son, Mr Kalyan Chakravarthy, was selected for IPS. “He missed the IAS narrowly. But he has made all of us proud,” Mr Rosaiah said.

After a long time, as many as 39 students cleared the UPSC examinations from the state this year. Of them, 15 have been selected for the IAS. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are jointly sending 41 IAS officers this year, which is almost 40 per cent of the total officers selected.

Deccan Chronical

Happy over his son’s achievement, a proud Gurdev Singh — a superintendent at Ferozerpur post office — said, ‘‘Even as a child, he was bright and continued to shine in studies till graduation. He was a gold medalist in physics.’’ Singh added that it was their dream that Prabhjot become an IAS. ‘‘He’s finally achieved it,’’ he beamed.

Prabhjyot did his graduation (BTech) from GNE College in 2006 and this was his third attempt at cracking the civils. He took coaching from Patiala for three months, followed by rigorous self study. Presently working with Indian Space Research Organisation as a scientist at Ahmedabad, the youngster loving putting his feelings in poetry and also plays the tabla, said his mother Satwant Kaur, also employed at post office.

The family plans to hold a ‘path’ once Prabhjot returns.

For Amanpreet Kaur, 25, who secured the 701st rank, it was wish fulfilment not for one, but two mothers. Her biological mother, Paramjit Kaur, was an SP in women’s cell. ‘‘She died 10 years ago due to cancer. But my second mother, Dr Neerupreet, has supported me all through,’’ she said. Amanpreet’s father is the deputy chief engineer in POWERCOM.

A graduate from Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, she has done her masters in sociology and chose it and public administration as her subjects for the civils. This being her fourth attempt, Amanpreet wants to improve her rank and is planning to take the exam again.

‘‘The entire family is proud of her. She is the only girl from our native village of Bilga, near Noormahal, to have cleared the exam,’’ said her elated father Rachpal Singh. He added they they had organized an ‘akhand path’ at their home to celebrate the success. ‘‘We’ll throw a grand party on Sunday when she returns from Chandigarh.’’

Also See: IAS Topper 2010

TOI

The Central Administrative Tribunal has refused to scrap the appointment procedure by the UPSC for the post of Deputy Director in the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on the ground that the advertisement issued by it for the job was vague.

Although, the Tribunal accepted the advertisement was vague it said there is no such legal flaw which required quashing.

The Tribunal passed the order on a bunch of petitions filed by aspirants Aushtosh Giri and others on the ground that eligibility criteria that a person must have about five years of experience in a responsible capacity was vague.

A doctor by profession, Karthik Adapa gave up scholarships to Harvard and Cambridge to join the Indian Administrative Services. Thinking beyond marks, appreciating the value of each subject and teaching these very subjects to students during his preparation helped him ace the exam.Now stationed at Ranikhet, a small town in Uttarakhand , Karthik (who was ranked first in the IAS exam of 2008) aspires to make a difference by working at the grassroots…

Why did you opt for the IAS?
It offers a tremendous opportunity for leadership and to work at the grassroots level. For example, I now work in a small town with a population of around 20,000. It is such a backward region that even a little work we do has a tremendous impact on the people here. You also get a chance to impact people’s lives across a variety of domains such as health, education, water, sanitation, roads and electricity. In fact, as a topper, I was given the option to go to my hometown in Khammam, Andhra Pradesh but I chose Ranikhet as it’s a much more backward place and that’s the kind of place I wanted to contribute to.

Medicine is considered a noble profession. What prompted you to move out of it?
I enjoyed being a doctor and in fact, continue to be a doctor even now. In my capacity as an administrator, I organise health camps, where I also serve as a doctor. But what I realised is that as a doctor, the canvas you get to paint on is very small. Health is the only field you can work in as a doctor.

Tell us about life as a student…
I was always a good student, which helped me secure admission to a national medical college. I got a scholarship for a postgraduation at both Harvard and Cambridge. I also got a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation scholarship for a PhD in Molecular Medicine at Harvard and the Jawaharlal Nehru  Memorial Trust Commonwealth Shared Scholarship for my PhD in Cambridge. But I opted for the IAS. In two earlier attempts, I also got through the Indian Police Services, but I let it pass, too.

Three attempts? It sounds taxing! How did you prepare?
I enjoyed the process. I wish I had to give ten attempts so I could study for ten years! You actually grow a lot in the process; the reading is voracious. I look upon it as a way of life and not much has changed since those times for me. I still read a lot, keep abreast of what’s happening in the world, in the country, in my state.

Which subjects did you chose during the mains and why?
Zoology and Psychology. Having done medicine, which is Advanced Biology, I wanted to go back to my basics and study Zoology, which is Basic Biology. I also wanted to study one subject that was different and would tell me something I enjoy in life and Psychology fitted the bill well. I worked really hard in Psychology. Though I didn’t score too well, it gave me new perspectives to see my life events. It brings about a holistic change in your personality, which happens as long as you don’t study merely for marks but internalise the subject. You must appreciate the basics of the subject and study its varied topics.

How did you prepare for the exam?
I referred to basic textbooks like Morgan & King and Barrons. Then you have advanced textbooks for each subject; Coleman for Abnormal Psychology, Pearson’s for Education Psychology. I would devote six to eight hours a day, but more than the number of hours, it is the quality and consistency of your studies that matter. I used to be very consistent with my reading.

CISF Result

According to an official press release based on written result of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) (Asst. Commandants) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2009 held by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in December 2009 and the Personality Test held in March 2010, a total of 20 candidates have been recommended for appointment.

This includes 16 General, 3 Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 1 Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates.

“Appointment will be made according to number of vacancies available and due consideration to the provisions contained in the rules for the examination. The number of vacancies reported for CISF is 20 (16-General, 03-SC & 01-ST),” said an official.

UPSC has a “Facilitation Counter” near examination hall in its campus. Candidates can obtain any information/ clarification regarding their examination/ recruitment during working hours in person or over telephone Nos. 011-23385271/ 23381125

http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/final-results/cisf/2009/cisf2009.pdf